Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The table illustrates the number of passengers per year utilising underground rail way systems in London,Paris,Tokyo, Washington DC,Kyoto and Los Angeles between 1863 to 2001. Overall,it is seen that Tokyo had the highest number of 1927 passengers using their rail way system with the speed of 155 km,while Kyoto had the lowest number of 45 passengers following their route at 11 km of speed.

In 1927,Tokyo recorded the highest number of passengers using their route with the number reaching 1927 passenger, following this was Paris which had 1191 passengers at the speed of 199km in 1900.

Next, London had 775 passengers going through their railway system in 1863,while Washington DC had 144 passengers in 1976 at the speed rate of 126km.

In 1981,Kyoto recorded the lowest number of 45 passengers using their route at 11km,whilst Los Angeles had 50 passengers in 2001.

Finally,from the table,it shows that Tokyo had the highest number of passengers using their Rail way system with the speed of 155km,while Kyoto had the lowest number of 45 passengers following their route at 11 km of speed in 1981.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The student attempts to address the prompt by selecting some main features and making comparisons, such as identifying Tokyo and Kyoto as having the highest and lowest passenger numbers. However, there are significant factual misinterpretations regarding the data categories. The student repeatedly confuses the 'date opened' and 'kilometers of route' with speed, stating incorrectly that Tokyo has 'the speed of 155 km' and Kyoto a 'route at 11 km of speed'. Additionally, passenger figures are misinterpreted in places, such as describing Tokyo's 1,927 million passengers as simply '1927 passenger'. Because the data is misreported in several key instances, the response only partially covers the task accurately, aligning with a Band 5 performance for this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response is divided into multiple paragraphs, but the overall organization and logical progression are weak. The student uses basic cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'Next', and 'Finally', but the paragraphing is repetitive and poorly structured, with unnecessary redundancy (for example, repeating the Tokyo and Kyoto comparisons in both the introduction and the conclusion). Referencing is sometimes confusing due to the misinterpretation of table columns, which disrupts the flow of information. Cohesive devices are handled rather mechanically, keeping this criterion at a Band 5 level.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive, employing terms like 'highest number', 'lowest number', 'passengers', and 'route'. There are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, most notably referring to route length in kilometers as 'speed' ('the speed of 155 km'). Other errors include omitting spaces after commas (e.g., 'London,Paris,Tokyo') and treating numerical values without proper units (e.g., '1927 passenger'). While the language is minimally adequate to convey a basic summary, the recurring lexical inaccuracies and lack of sophisticated vocabulary place it firmly in the Band 5 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and subordinate structures like 'while Kyoto had the lowest number...'. However, grammatical control is compromised by frequent punctuation errors, such as missing spaces after commas and periods. There are also structural awkwardnesses, such as 'with the number reaching 1927 passenger' (singular instead of plural). While basic meaning is generally accessible despite the data misinterpretations, frequent minor errors and awkward syntax mean the response does not consistently achieve error-free sentences, supporting a Band 5 score.

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