Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-20
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 4.0)
In this sheet we can see information about railway systems in six cities. There are six cities London, Paris, Tokyo, washington DC , Kyoto, LosAngles. There are several thing to compared to like date Opened, Kilometers of route,and Passenger per year .
Date Opne , In london the opened date was 1863 they stared early as compared to other cities. Then paris the opened date was 1900 early as rest of cities then tokoyo started in 1927 . in washington they introduced in 1976 . In kyoto goverment start rail in 2001 and at the end
Next is kilometer of route or network of rawily system . The londo has a bigest rawily network system as compare rest of cities . Then paris has 199 kilometers of route of rawil way system and second largest . Then tokyo rawil way system around 155 kilometers of route . Then we can see next is washington dc 126 kilometer rawil way system . Then we have kyoto with 11 kliometers rawily way network this is small as compare to rest of cities . at the end we have los angeles with 28 klimoter network system
at the end we have passengers per year . The higest number of passengers in per year is in tokyo , scond one is parise , move on to other cities kyoto has less number of passenger as comper to rest of them , los angeles and london has medium 50 and 755 .
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0
The student attempts to cover all parts of the task by mentioning the six cities, dates opened, route lengths, and passenger numbers. However, the information is presented in a very basic and disjointed manner, and the response trails off abruptly at the end of the second paragraph ("at the end"). Key comparisons are poorly executed; for example, stating that "los angeles and london has medium 50 and 755" fails to meaningfully analyse or compare the data. There is a lack of an overview or clear summary of the main trends. Furthermore, several data points contain factual inaccuracies based on the table (e.g., Tokyo's passengers are 1927 million, but the student misinterprets this or scrambles details, and Los Angeles opened in 2001, not Kyoto). These limitations place this part of the response at Band 4.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0
The response shows some basic organisation by grouping information into paragraphs (introduction, dates, routes, passengers). However, there is no clear overall progression, and the logical flow is heavily disrupted by repetitive transitional phrases like "Then we have" and "at the end". Paragraphing is irregular, with the final sentence of the second paragraph cut off mid-thought. Cohesive devices are either missing, inadequate, or repetitive, making the text feel mechanical rather than naturally structured. Referencing is frequently unclear, and the overall arrangement fails to guide the reader smoothly through the data. These features align closely with the Band 4 descriptor for Coherence and Cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 4.0
The vocabulary used is very basic and repetitive, heavily relying on simple terms like "big", "small", "cities", and "railway systems". There are numerous spelling errors throughout the text, including proper nouns and common words (e.g., "washington", "LosAngles", "Opne", "stared", "tokoyo", "goverment", "londo", "rawily", "rawil", "kliometers", "higest", "scond", "parise", "comper"). The student attempts less common vocabulary such as "network", but this is undermined by persistent misspelling and inaccurate word forms. The vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the basic topic, but the high density of errors strains the reader and restricts the score to Band 4.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0
The response features a very limited range of grammatical structures. Most sentences are simple or attempt basic coordination with "and" or "then". Attempts at complex structures or relative clauses are absent, and simple sentences frequently contain basic errors in subject-verb agreement (e.g., "los angeles and london has") and tense usage. Punctuation is faulty, with missing capitalisation at the start of sentences and erratic spacing around punctuation marks. Errors are extremely frequent throughout the text and frequently distort meaning or impede smooth reading, reflecting the characteristics of Band 4.0.
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