Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-29

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 provides data on the opening date, kilometers of route and passengers per year of underground railway systems in six cities. Overall, the London railway is the oldest and has the longest route, while the Tokyo railway has the highest number of passengers.

The data reveals that the London railway is the oldest, which opened in 1863 and has the longest route of 394 kilometers with 775 million passengers per year.The underground railway systems of Paris and Tokyo opened 27 years apart on 1900 and 1927, respectively and, the Tokyo railways carried more passengers per year despite the shorter route. The paris railway's route was 199 kilometers long and carried 1191 passengers per year, compared to the 155 kilometers long route of Tokyo railways that carried 1927 passenger per year.

The railway system of Washington DC followed with 126 kilometers long route and 144 passengers per year. The Los Angeles railway opened in 2001 had a longer route and carried more passengers than the Kyoto railway opened in 1981.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully covers all key features of the table, including opening dates, route lengths, and passenger numbers across the six cities. You provide a clear overall summary in the introduction noting that London is the oldest with the longest route, while Tokyo has the highest passenger volume. You make relevant comparisons, such as contrasting Paris and Tokyo and comparing Los Angeles and Kyoto. The data is accurately reported, and the main trends are clearly highlighted, fulfilling all requirements of Task 1.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a clear logical progression and is organised into appropriate paragraphs, starting with an introductory overview followed by body paragraphs detailing the specific cities. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as 'Overall', 'The data reveals', and 'compared to'. However, there are minor cohesion and punctuation issues, such as missing spaces after periods (e.g., 'year.The') and a slightly run-on structure in phrases like 'respectively and, the Tokyo railways'. Overall arrangement is coherent.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate and generally appropriate range of vocabulary for the task, incorporating terms like 'railway systems', 'passengers per year', and 'route'. There are some minor lexical inaccuracies or omissions, such as writing '1191 passengers' instead of '1191 million passengers' and '1927 passenger' (singular instead of plural). Despite these minor errors, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the data clearly and effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses ('which opened in 1863') and comparative structures. There are several grammatical errors and awkward prepositions, notably 'on 1900 and 1927' (should be 'in 1900 and 1927') and 'opened in 2001 had' (missing 'which'). Punctuation also needs attention with missing spaces and comma placement. However, these errors do not impede communication.

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