Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-18
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 5.5)
The table shows data of the underground railway system's starting year, length of route and number of passenger per year in 6 cities.
Over all, the table shows underground railway most popular in tokyo and the first established railway system had the longest route compared to the other cities.
In 1863, London developed the first underground railway system that had 394 kilometers longest route than other cities constructed afterwards. The passengers who travelling in london are 775 millions per year. After the 36 years, Paris started underground trains route of 199 kilometers which become 2nd popular with 1191 millions of passengers every year. The tokyo had underground railway in 1927 which have great number of traveller per year.
The 126 kilometers long route railway system started in Washington DC in the year 1976. While the Kyoto had only 11 kilometers route and lowest popular compare to other 5 cities from table. In begining of 21st century, Los Angeles opened underground railways system which had 28 kilometers long route and half billion passenger per year.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The candidate has attempted to cover all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the table, such as the opening dates, route lengths, and passenger numbers for the six cities. Key comparisons are made, for example noting that London had the longest route and Tokyo had the highest number of passengers. However, some of the data reporting is imprecise or incomplete (e.g., stating Tokyo had 'great number of traveller' without explicitly quoting the figure of 1,927 million, and inaccuracies in comparative phrasing like '394 kilometers longest route'). Furthermore, the overview paragraph is somewhat weak, containing grammatical issues and informal phrasing. Consequently, the response satisfies the basic requirements but lacks full development and precision, aligning closely with a Band 5.5 to 6.0 profile.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The text is organized into distinct paragraphs, starting with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs detailing the cities. There is an overall logical progression moving from the earliest established city to the most recent. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or awkwardly deployed (e.g., 'Over all', 'After the 36 years', 'While the Kyoto had'). Referencing and transitions between sentences can feel disjointed, and paragraphing could be structured more effectively to group related cities together. The flow of information is occasionally interrupted by structural clumsiness, placing this response firmly at Band 5.5.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'underground railway system', 'route', 'passengers per year', and 'established'. However, there are notable limitations and word-choice errors, such as 'number of passenger' (missing plural), 'lowest popular' instead of 'least popular', and 'in begining' (spelling). Less common vocabulary is attempted with mixed success, and stylistic choices are occasionally unnatural. The lexical range is minimally adequate to convey the core information, supporting a Band 5.5 rating.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some attempt at relative clauses ('that had 394 kilometers') and subordinate clauses ('While the Kyoto had...'). However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in article usage ('the tokyo', 'in london'), prepositions, subject-verb agreement ('The tokyo had... which have'), and comparative structures ('longest route than other cities'). These errors require some effort from the reader to interpret, though communication is not severely impeded. This profile corresponds to a Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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