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 provided data gives insight of underground railway system of six different cities.I provides information of opening date , total distance raiway covers and total number of users per year.
Overall, it is clear that the newly opend railway cover less distance and also carry fewer number of passengers compared to older railway systems.
In terms of raiway network, London raiway holds a highest position with total coverage of 394kms in the year 1863 which was almost double than its successor which is Paris with199kms.Furthermore, Tokyo and Washington DC also had a decent coverage of 155kms and 126kms respectively. In contrast, Kyoto and Los Angeles owned the negligible coverage compare to others which was only 11kms and 28kms in year 1981 and 2001 respectively
Moving Further, Paris and Tokyo
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The student attempts to summarise the main features of the table, including the opening date, route length, and passenger numbers, and provides a clear overall trend that newer systems tend to have shorter networks and fewer passengers. However, the response is incomplete due to an unfinished final sentence ('Moving Further, Paris and Tokyo') and falls short of the minimum 150-word requirement, containing only 129 words. As a result of this under-length and incomplete development, the task is only partially addressed, which prevents a higher score under the Task Achievement descriptor guidelines.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response shows some logical organisation with an introduction, an overview paragraph, and a body paragraph detailing the route networks. Cohesive devices such as 'In terms of', 'Furthermore', and 'In contrast' are used to connect ideas. However, paragraphing is disrupted by the incomplete ending, and referencing is occasionally mechanical. Overall, there is a coherent structure attempted, but the abrupt termination of the text limits the progression and overall flow of ideas.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting words and phrases such as 'insight', 'coverage', 'successive', and 'negligible'. However, there are several spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'opend' instead of 'opened', 'raiway' instead of 'railway', and 'fewer number' instead of 'smaller number'. Despite these noticeable errors, communication is not severely impeded, reflecting a Band 5 lexical profile.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and comparative structures. However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, including missing articles ('gives insight of', 'holds a highest position'), missing subject-verb agreement or pronoun issues ('I provides information'), and punctuation errors such as missing spaces after periods. These errors, combined with the incomplete final sentence, indicate a limited control of grammar and punctuation.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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