Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-24

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 6.5)

The table gives data about the opening date, route length and number of passengers per year of the underground railway systems in London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles.

Overall, the railway system of London is the oldest and the longest one compared to Tokyo, which has the busiest underground railway system. Compared to others, the railway system of Kyoto is the shortest and the least populated one.

The London railway system was opened in the year 1863 which is 394 kilometers long. It has the longest route compared to the railway systems of other cities. The underground train systems in Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles were inaugurated in 1900, 1927, 1976,1981 and 2001 respectively. Whereas Kyoto railway system has the shortest route of 11 kilometer compared to others which is about 199 km for Paris, 155 km for Tokyo, 126 km for Washington DC and 28 km for Los Angeles.

Tokyo underground railway system is the busiest with 1927 millions of passengers per year compared to the railway system of Kyoto is the least populated one with only 45 million passengers every year. Paris has the second most populated railway system (1191 passengers per year). Whereas, London, Washington DC and Los Angeles are some where in the middle of the above cities with 775, 144 and 50 million passengers respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The student successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the table, including opening dates, route lengths, and annual passenger numbers. Clear comparisons are made between the cities, such as noting that London has the oldest and longest system while Tokyo is the busiest. The overview is well-formulated and captures the key trends effectively. Data is cited accurately from the table, such as mentioning Tokyo's 1927 million passengers and Kyoto's 11-kilometer route. The response meets all the requirements for this criterion, providing a fully developed and well-supported summary of the data without missing any critical information.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression. It begins with an appropriate introductory paraphrase, moves into a well-crafted overview paragraph, and then provides detailed body paragraphs that break down the data effectively. Cohesive devices such as 'whereas', 'respectively', and 'overall' are used accurately to link ideas and compare data points across cities. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, overview, and detailed body sections. Although some transitions could be smoother, the overall structure and referencing are clear and easy to follow, supporting a coherent reading experience throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to good range of vocabulary suited for an Academic Task 1 response, using terms such as 'inaugurated', 'route length', and 'busiest'. However, there are some minor lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasings, such as referring to Kyoto as 'the least populated one' when the table measures passengers per year rather than city population, and 'some where in the middle' which contains a spelling and collocation slip. Despite these occasional slips, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning precisely, and less common items are attempted with reasonable success.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and comparative forms effectively. Grammatical control is generally good, with frequent error-free sentences, particularly when stating dates and statistics using 'respectively'. However, there are occasional minor errors, such as missing pluralisation in '11 kilometer' instead of '11 kilometers' and a punctuation comma splice in '1976,1981'. Furthermore, the phrase 'compared to the railway system of Kyoto is the least populated one' contains a grammatical error in clause subordination. Nevertheless, these errors are infrequent and do not impede overall communication.

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