Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-17
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The take below gives information about the underground railway systems in six cities.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Underground Railway Systems
City Date opened Kilometers of route Passengers per year (in millions) London 1863 394 775 Paris 1900 199 1191 Tokyo 1927 155 1927 Washington DC 1976 126 144 Kyoto 1981 11 45 Los Angeles 2001 28 50
Student answer (Band 5.0)
following tables give a brief summary of railway local transportation mode of 6 six major cities of various years, describing the area travel and number of locals who used around the 365 days.
Among the six cities London stands on first which makes its older than the rest with the year 1863,394 km and 775 millions travelers whereas Los Angeles stands on last year 2001, 28km and 50 millions passengers rest of cities like Paris with year 1900,covers 119 kms followed by Tokyo1927 to Washington DC 1976 till second last Kyoto 1981.
in terms of covering areas London still stands on top with 394kms, followed by Paris, then Tokyo to Washington DC followed Kyoto till Los Angeles.
despite the London being standing first in in areas and years Tokyo stands the highest in terms carrying travellers in,on the other side kyoto stands at end carrying minimum numbers of passengers making folled the Paris, follow London than Washington stands one third place
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response attempts to cover all parts of the prompt by summarizing the main features of the underground railway systems across the six cities. However, the data presentation contains several inaccuracies and confusion regarding the figures. For instance, the student states that Tokyo stands highest in carrying passengers (citing the number 1927, which is actually the opening year rather than the passenger volume, as the passenger volume is 1927 million, but this confusion runs through the writing). There is an attempt to make comparisons, but the delivery is muddled and lacks a clear overview or properly structured feature selection. Key data points are misreported or awkwardly synthesized. This aligns with Band 5 performance.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The text lacks clear overall progression and logical paragraphing. It consists of a dense introduction followed by fragmented, run-on paragraphs that merge multiple disparate comparisons into single, confusing sentences. Cohesive devices are either missing, inadequate, or repetitive, with phrases like 'followed by' and 'stands on top' used excessively and incorrectly. Paragraphing is not used appropriately to guide the reader through distinct points or categories of data. Referencing is frequently unclear, making it difficult to follow the comparative logic between cities. This reflects Band 4.5 to 5.0 characteristics, solidifying a score of 5.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is very basic, repetitive, and restricted (e.g., 'stands on top', 'stands on last', 'carrying travellers'). There are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'railway local transportation mode' and 'locals who used around the 365 days'. The misuse of numerical data as lexical items (confusing years with passenger numbers) further limits lexical precision. The vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey a basic topic, but frequent inaccuracies and lack of flexibility restrict the score to a Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0
The writing demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on long, convoluted run-on sentences joined by commas rather than proper coordination or subordination. There are frequent and severe grammatical errors, including missing articles ('in terms of covering areas', 'at end'), incorrect preposition usage ('stands on first'), and punctuation failures throughout the text. These frequent errors cause considerable difficulty for the reader and obscure the intended meaning, aligning closely with the Band 4 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.