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 chart illustrates information about the subway system of railway in six cities.
Overall,london is the first city starts underground subway system in 1863 regarding with 394Km of route distance, have small number of passengers usage in year rather than those cities fall in 19s have less distance but increase in pessenger ratio in year .
Intially, In 1863 only 775 pessengers use the railway.But.Traverse 394 km of route distance.Moreover, Paris and Tokyo covers less distance. Nevertheless, Moderate increase in travellers around about 1191 in Paris and 1927 in Tokyo.In contrast with railway stations provide small route system only 11km in Kyoto and 28km in Los Angeles regarding with down proportion of fare 45in 1981 and 50 in 2001. Washington relay on equal manner ridrs of this city uses 126 distance of routes for travelling purpose in 1976 . As a Consequence, Significant number of pessengers ratio increase in Tokyo and decline in Kyoto according to their distance .
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.5 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response attempts to cover the main features of the table, noting the earliest opening city (London) and mentioning route lengths and passenger numbers for cities like Paris, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Los Angeles. However, the interpretation of the data is often confused and inaccurate. For instance, the student states that Tokyo has '1927' passengers, confusing the opening year with passenger numbers, and claims that London had a small number of passengers, which contradicts the provided data of 775 million. Furthermore, comparisons are poorly articulated due to expression difficulties, resulting in an under-developed overview and limited selection of key trends. This aligns with Band 5 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The text is organized into a basic introduction and a single, very dense body paragraph. The logical progression is frequently disrupted by awkward transitions, punctuation errors (e.g., 'But.Traverse'), and unclear referencing. Cohesive devices are either misused or absent, making it difficult to follow the relationships between data points. Although paragraphing is attempted, the overall arrangement lacks clear logical structure and progression. This corresponds to a Band 4.5 to 5.0 level, comfortably settling at Band 5.0 for some discernible overall structure.
Lexical Resource — Band 4.5
The vocabulary used is basic and frequently inaccurate. The student repeats terms like 'distance', 'route', and 'pessengers' (misspelled consistently). There are notable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'down proportion of fare' and 'relay on equal manner ridrs'. Less common lexical items are attempted but used incorrectly, leading to frequent misunderstandings. Spelling mistakes ('Intially', 'pessengers') also detract from the quality. This performance fits the Band 4.5 to 5.0 range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentences, but grammatical control is weak. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'london is the first city starts', 'Paris and Tokyo covers'), tense usage, and sentence boundaries (run-on sentences and misplaced periods like 'But.Traverse'). Punctuation is faulty throughout. While the meaning can sometimes be extracted with effort, the high frequency of grammatical errors frequently impedes communication, placing this response firmly in the Band 4.5 to 5.0 category.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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