Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)
The table represents data about below level railway systems in London, in Paris, in Tokyo, in Washington DC, in Kyoto, and in Los Angeles.
Overall, it can be noticed, in Tokyo, most of passengers are travel in underground railway per year. Moreover, in Kyoto, less travelers are travel.
To begin with, in London, Underground railway systems opened in 1863, the route was 394 kilometers, and around 775 millions passengers are carry per year. As well as, in Paris underground railway systems opened in 1900. It's 1191millions travelers carry every years. In addition, below level railway systems opened in1927and In one year 1927 millions people are travel in Tokyo. 126 kilometers of route underground railway systems in Washigton DC, and opened in 1976 and total 144 millions passengers travel per year. Consequently, in Kyoto was open in 1981, the short route of underground railway systems and also 45 millions people are travel per year. Finally, in Los Angeles opened in 2001 to 28 kilometers of underground route, 50 millions passengers are travel in whole year.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The student attempts to cover all major parts of the table, including dates, route lengths, and passenger numbers across the six cities. However, the data presentation lacks selection and comparison, opting instead for a mechanical list of statistics for each city. Furthermore, there are noticeable factual errors in reporting the data; for instance, the student states that Tokyo has 1927 million passengers per year, but 1927 is actually the opening year, while the passenger volume is 1927 million (which coincidentally matches, but the route length and dates are muddled elsewhere, such as Los Angeles opening in '2001 to 28 kilometers'). The overview is extremely basic, attempting to highlight Tokyo and Kyoto. Because the key features are not well selected or compared, the response achieves a Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response is organized into an introduction, an overview, and a body paragraph format, which provides some structure. However, there is no clear logical progression between sentences, and the body paragraph is a dense, run-on block of data points strung together with repetitive and awkward connectors such as 'To begin with', 'As well as', 'In addition', and 'Finally'. Paragraphing is underutilized since all the detailed city data is crammed into a single massive paragraph. Referencing is frequently unclear, and cohesive devices are often inaccurate or mechanical. This level of organization and cohesion corresponds to Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is very basic and repetitive, heavily relying on words like 'travel', 'passengers', 'opened', 'route', and 'kilometers'. The student invents awkward phrasing such as 'below level railway systems' instead of 'underground railway systems'. There are numerous collocation errors, such as 'less travelers are travel' and 'passengers are carry'. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the basic topic of transport data, the range is limited, and word choice errors cause frequent strain for the reader. This fits the Band 4.5 to 5.0 profile, safely landing at Band 5.0 due to the successful communication of basic concepts.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains a very limited range of grammatical structures, heavily relying on simple sentences or poorly constructed compound-complex sentences with rampant errors. There are persistent issues with passive voice and tense formation, such as 'passengers are carry', 'are travel', 'was open', and 'totalling 144 millions'. Subject-verb agreement and word forms are frequently incorrect (e.g., 'millions passengers', 'less travelers'). Complex structures are rarely attempted accurately, and frequent grammatical errors cause significant difficulty for the reader throughout the text, placing this performance firmly at Band 4.5, rounded to Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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