Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-25
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 provided table outlines key data on the subterranean railway systems across six major cities.
Overall, it show when underground railway system opened, how long it, and how many passsengers travelled per year. By comparison it seems that London's underground railway system is oldest one, which wa sestablished in 1863, and latest one is in Los Angeles which is established in 2001. Highest railway track is also in London, which is 394 kilometers and shortest one is in Kyoto only 11 kilometers. Passengers travelled per year by underground railway in Tokyo are 1927 million which is highest among other cities.
London's railway track opend in 1863, it was 394 kilometers long and 775 million people travelled per year. In paris it was opened in 1900, 199 kilometers long and 1191 million people travelled by it yearly. In Tokyo it was in use in 1927, and 155 km was long and 1927 million travelled by it per year.
In Washington DC it was opened in 1976, it was 126 km long and 144 million people travelled by it yearly. IN Kyoto it was established in 1981, it was only 11 km long and only 45 million people uses it for tarveling every year. Last city is Los Angeles in this city it was opened in 2001, and it was 28 km long and 50 million p[eople used it for travelling per year.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student successfully highlights the main features of the table, covering all six cities and the key variables (date opened, route length, and annual passengers). An overview is provided, noting the extremes such as London having the oldest system and longest track, Kyoto having the shortest track, and Tokyo recording the highest number of passengers. Comparisons are attempted, such as identifying the highest and lowest values across categories. However, the response falls slightly short of a higher band due to minor mechanical errors in data reporting and a lack of deeper integration or synthesis of the data. For instance, stating 'Passengers travelled per year... in Tokyo are 1927 million' correctly matches the table, but some sentences in the body paragraphs merely list data points city by city without a strong analytical thread. Nonetheless, the core information required by the task prompt is adequately covered, aligning well with Band 6 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The text is arranged into an introduction, an overview paragraph, and three body paragraphs detailing individual or paired city data, providing a coherent overall structure. However, paragraphing is somewhat choppy and mechanical, with the final body paragraphs functioning more as isolated data dumps rather than a cohesive discussion. Cohesive devices are basic and repetitive, relying heavily on chronological or geographic listing rather than advanced connectors. For example, the text uses phrases like 'In Paris...', 'In Tokyo...', and 'In Washington DC...' repeatedly to structure the information, which creates a formulaic flow. Referencing is mostly clear, but the lack of sophisticated transition signals prevents the response from achieving a higher band score, placing it firmly at Band 6.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully employing terms like 'subterranean railway systems', 'route length', and 'annual passengers'. However, there are numerous spelling mistakes ('passsengers', 'wa sestablished', 'opend', 'paris', 'p[eople') and minor word choice issues (e.g., 'Highest railway track' instead of 'The longest railway track'). While less common lexical items are attempted ('subterranean', 'established'), the presence of frequent spelling errors and basic vocabulary limitations restricts the score. Communication is not impeded by these errors, but they prevent the vocabulary from reaching the level required for Band 7.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and comparative structures (e.g., 'London's underground railway system is oldest one, which was established in 1863'). However, the text contains a noticeable number of grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as missing articles ('is oldest one', 'latest one is in Los Angeles which is established'), incorrect prepositions ('in this city it was opened'), and run-on sentences ('Overall, it show when underground railway system opened, how long it, and how many passsengers travelled per year'). Complex structures often contain errors, and punctuation is occasionally faulty. These frequent errors align with the Band 5 descriptor where attempts at complex sentences are often faulty.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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