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 about the opened date, distance in kilometers and passengers per year in millions is given. Here, Paris and Tokyo have the highest number of travellers through railway. Whereas Kyoto and Los Angeles has the lowest passengers.

First, in 1863 the railway of London had opened with the route of 394 km and 775 million passengers per year. This railway has the longest route compare to other five cities. 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 have opened railway in 1981 and 2001. While 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 successfully covers all parts of the task by presenting data for the six cities across all three categories: date opened, route length, and passenger numbers. An overview is attempted, identifying the cities with the highest and lowest passenger volumes ('Paris and Tokyo have the highest number of travellers... Whereas Kyoto and Los Angeles has the lowest passengers'). Key features and comparisons are made, such as noting that London has the longest route (394 km) and contrasting the opening dates of Tokyo and Washington DC. However, there is a minor factual misinterpretation in the text: the student writes that Tokyo contains the highest ratio of 1927 million passengers, but 1927 is actually the year it opened, while its passenger volume is 1927 million, leading to a slight confusion in data reporting. Despite this, the main trends and features are adequately selected and reported, earning a solid Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is structured into four paragraphs, including a brief introduction, an overall summary, and two body paragraphs detailing the data. Cohesive devices are used to signal shifts, such as 'Overall', 'First', and 'While'. However, some of the linking and referencing feel a bit mechanical or imprecise, for instance, 'In Paris, railway takes place in year 1900'. Paragraphing is logical, grouping the older and larger systems separately from the smaller or newer ones like Kyoto and Los Angeles. While the overall arrangement is coherent, occasional awkward transitions and minor cohesion issues prevent the response from reaching a higher band. Overall, the organizational structure is clear and easy to follow, fitting the Band 6.0 descriptors well.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully utilizing terms related to transport data such as 'route', 'passengers per year', 'kilometers', and 'opened date'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, though some collocations and word choices are inaccurate or awkward, such as 'railway takes place in year 1900' instead of 'opened in 1900', and 'highest ratio of 1927 million passengers' instead of 'greatest number'. Spelling is generally accurate, but awkward phrasing and inappropriate word choices occasionally surface. These errors do not impede overall communication, but they limit the lexical score to a Band 5.5 because the precision and flexibility expected at Band 6.0 are not consistently maintained.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Whereas Kyoto and Los Angeles has the lowest passengers' and 'Tokyo and Washington DC have big difference of 49 years where Tokyo's railway was started in year 1927...'. There are several noticeable grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('Kyoto and Los Angeles has', 'Kyoto had 45 million and Los Angeles 50 million passengers' missing verbs/conjunctions), missing articles ('with route of 199 km'), and awkward prepositions. Although these errors occur frequently throughout the response, they rarely impede communication, as the reader can still understand the intended meaning. This performance aligns well with the Band 5.5 descriptors for grammatical range and accuracy.

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

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