Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-19

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 illustrated tabel depicts the data of passengers travelled from underground railway system in six diverse cities. Respectively, cities are London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles.

The table represents the data in which the London's underground railway was opened in year 1863, in which the number of covered routes were 394 and the passengers who travelled from train per year was 775 million. However, the Paris opened their railway in 1900 in which 199 routes were covered and 1191 million people travelled. Meanwhile, in the Tokyo railway was developed in 1927 and the routes covered were155 in which 1927 milliom people travelled per year. On the other hand, the Washinton DC opened their railway in 1976 in which the trains had covered 126 routes, carrying 144 million travellers each year. The kyoto's opening date was 1981 and in which 11 routes were covered along with 45 million individuals per year. Moreover, the Los Angeles opened their railways in 2001 by covering 28 routes only and transported 50 million people per year.

In comparsion, the highest routes were covered by the London's railway. However, the highest number of people were transported by the Tokyo's railway and the Kyoto was least among all in compeleting routes and transporting passenegers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the table, including dates opened, kilometers of route, and annual passenger numbers. Key comparisons are made, such as noting that London had the highest number of route kilometers, Tokyo had the highest passenger volume, and Kyoto was the lowest in both categories. However, the report reads somewhat like a mechanical listing of data point by point rather than a well-synthesised overview, particularly in the second paragraph where each city is described in a repetitive sentence structure. Despite this, all data is accurately reported without major misinterpretations, fulfilling the core requirements of Task 1 at a Band 6.0 level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement with a standard three-paragraph structure, including an introduction, a body paragraph detailing the data, and a concluding comparison paragraph. Cohesive devices and transition words are used, such as 'However', 'Meanwhile', 'On the other hand', and 'Moreover'. However, some of these transitions feel mechanical or are used slightly inaccurately in context (e.g., 'Respectively, cities are...'). Referencing is sometimes repetitive, and the paragraphing, while functional, results in a somewhat disjointed body paragraph that crams all six cities together. Cohesion overall meets the criteria for Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common words and phrases such as 'diverse cities', 'transported', and 'individuals'. There are, however, several lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'tabel' (spelling), 'data of passengers travelled from underground railway system' (awkward preposition and collocation), 'routes were covered' (imprecise collocation for track length), and 'milliom' (typo). Vocabulary is minimally adequate and attempts less common items, but errors in spelling ('tabel', 'Washinton', 'kyoto', 'comparsion', 'compeleting', 'passenegers') and word choice place this firmly in the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range, supported by adequate overall task coverage.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and introductory subordinate clauses (e.g., 'in which the number of covered routes were 394'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding subject-verb agreement ('the number of covered routes were', 'Paris opened their railway', 'Tokyo railway was developed') and awkward relative clause constructions ('date was 1981 and in which 11 routes were covered'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur regularly throughout the text, reflecting the characteristics of Band 5.0 to 5.5.

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

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