Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The table illustrates the underground railway systems in six different cities and other information.

Overall, there are six cities and information the about opened date, distance in kilometers and passengers per year in millions is given. Here, the Paris and Tokyo have the highest number of trvellers through railway. While Kyoto and Los Angeles have the lowest passengers.

First, in 1863 the railway of London had opened with route of 394 km and 775 million passengers per year. This railway has the longest route compared to other five cities. While in Paris, railway takes place in year 1900 with route of 199 km and 1191 million passengers per year. Tokyo and Washington DC have big difference of 49 years where Tokyo's railway was started in year 1927 and with the route of 155 Km and Washington in 1976 with 126 km route.

Tokyo contains the highest ratio of 1927 million passengers. Kyoto and Los Angeles had opened railway in 1981 and 2001. Where there is only route of 11 km in Kyoto and 28 km in Los Angeles and both have minimal difference of 5 million passengers. Kyoto had 45 million and Los Angeles 50 million passengers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student attempts to cover all parts of the prompt by summarising data regarding the six underground railway systems. An overview is provided, noting the highest and lowest cities for passenger numbers. However, the selection of features lacks some precision and integration. For instance, stating that 'Tokyo contains the highest ratio of 1927 million passengers' is slightly confused in terminology, as it is an absolute figure rather than a ratio. While comparisons are made, such as contrasting London's route length with the others, the body paragraphs read more like a list of disconnected data points rather than a fully synthesised analytical report. Therefore, this performance aligns closely with the Band 6 descriptors, as all parts are addressed, but some details and overall data integration remain under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is arranged into four paragraphs, including an introduction and an overview, which shows an attempt at logical organisation. However, the progression between ideas is sometimes jerky and mechanical. Cohesive devices are used repeatedly and awkwardly, such as starting multiple sentences with 'While', 'First', and 'Where'. For example, writing 'Where there is only route of 11 km in Kyoto...' creates a sentence fragment and disrupts the flow. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and paragraphing could be managed more effectively to group related cities logically by age or size rather than presenting them chronologically in a disjointed manner. These issues place the response firmly in the Band 5 to 6 range, with Band 6 best reflecting the overall coherent arrangement despite faulty cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range to communicate the basic features of the table, using terms such as 'route', 'passengers', and 'opened date'. However, lexical control is inconsistent. There are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'trvellers' (a typo), 'railway takes place in year 1900' instead of 'opened in 1900', and 'big difference of 49 years'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success, and precision is lacking when describing statistical concepts. Because the vocabulary is sufficient for the task but contains errors that occasionally draw attention without fully impeding communication, a Band 5.5 or 6.0 is appropriate, leaning towards Band 6 for adequate task coverage.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and comparative structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several structural errors and awkward phrasings, such as missing articles ('with route of 394 km', 'in year 1900'), tense confusion ('had opened' versus 'opened'), and sentence fragments ('Where there is only route of 11 km...'). Subject-verb agreement is also unsteady in places, such as 'the Paris and Tokyo have'. While these errors do not completely obscure the meaning, their frequency prevents the response from achieving a higher band. This performance reflects the Band 5 descriptors, where a limited range of structures and frequent grammatical errors are present.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.