Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The given table provides the information regarding subway system operating in 6 different cities. The data highlights key factors like opening date, route's coverage area and quantifies the passengers using the railway system.

One noticeable feature in data is countries who started it's operations before 1950s are accommodating highest number of passengers per year. While countries that started its operations after 1950s are facilitating less than 150 million passengers per annum.

Despite the oldest openning date and the longest route of 1863 and 394 km respectively, London ranks third in serving passengers per year i.e 775 million. Whereas Paris and Tokyo were openned in 1900 and 1927 respectively with the coverage area around half of London railway station 1191 and 1927 yet the former facilitates 1191 million and the latter 1927 million passengers.

Washington DC railway station also covers the area above 100 kilometer but only serves 144 million passengers. Kyoto and Los Angeles are the smalles railway stations and only serves below 50 million passengers per year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully identifies and reports the main features of the table, making relevant comparisons across the six cities. An overview is attempted in the second paragraph, noting that older systems generally handle more passengers, though some inaccuracies exist in the grouping and generalizations. Key data points such as opening dates, route lengths, and passenger numbers are highlighted accurately, such as noting London has the longest route and Tokyo the highest passenger volume. However, referring to systems as 'countries' and misclassifying all networks as 'railway stations' detracts slightly from precision. Overall, the response addresses all parts of the task adequately, aligning with the requirements for a Band 6.5 or solid Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is organized into four paragraphs with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs discussing specific cities. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'While', 'Despite', and 'Whereas'. However, referencing and logical progression are occasionally faulty, such as in the third paragraph where the sentence structure becomes convoluted when comparing Paris and Tokyo: 'whereas Paris and Tokyo were openned in 1900 and 1927 respectively with the coverage area around half of London railway station 1191 and 1927 yet the former facilitates...'. Paragraphing is present and visually separates the introduction, overview, and details, but paragraph transitions could be smoother. These issues place the response firmly in the Band 6 category.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, with terms like 'accommodating', 'facilitating', 'coverage area', and 'per annum'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and inappropriate word choices, such as calling urban subway systems 'countries' ('countries who started it\'s operations') and referring to networks as 'stations' ('London railway station', 'Washington DC railway station'). Spelling errors also occur, such as 'openning' and 'smalles'. While the student attempts less common vocabulary, these inaccuracies prevent the score from reaching a higher band. The lexical resource matches the Band 6 descriptor due to an adequate range with some errors that do not impede overall communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and subordinate structures like 'While countries that started its operations after 1950s are facilitating...'. However, there are several grammatical and mechanical errors throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('countries who started it\'s operations', 'Kyoto and Los Angeles are the smalles railway stations and only serves'), missing articles ('in data'), and punctuation or phrasing awkwardness. Despite these frequent minor errors, the meaning remains clear and communication is not impeded, which is characteristic of Band 6 performance.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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