Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-30

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 compares the underground railway system in six cities among their passengers travelling through railway also discussed their opening dates and passengers travelling through the railway.

overall, London has the oldest underground railway system was started in 1863 and Los Angeles has the newest railway system which was started in 2001.Paris was functional in 1900 was secondly functional railway system then, tokyo in japan in 1927 then, washington Dc in 1976 then, kyoto in 1981 then, as already discussed the latest or newest functional railway system is of los angeles.

now, we are going to discuss abou whole information mentioned in given table so, london has the longest

route provided to the passengers which is 394 kilometers but in case of passengers travelling through underground bus service , tokyo having highest passengers travelling by railway service.

after London, Paris has the longest route of 199 Kilometers and also a large amount of passengers which are 1191 millions per year travell through this then, tokyo having 155 kilometers route with highest passengers and washington dc having 126 kilometers with 144 million passengers and then, kyoto with only 11km route which is minimum from all and then los angeles which is newly functional having 28 kilometers and 50 millions passengers travelling through this every year.

in conclusion, london having longest route and shortest is of kyoto but in case of passengers tokyo having highest passengers travelling every year and kyoto having sdhortest passengers travelling by this service.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the table, including opening dates, route lengths, and annual passenger numbers. Key comparisons are made across the cities, such as identifying London as having the longest route and Tokyo as having the highest number of passengers. However, the development is somewhat repetitive, and the overview lacks conciseness and polish. There are minor inaccuracies in data reporting, such as confusing 'underground bus service' instead of railway, but the overall trends are successfully captured. It meets the Band 6 requirement of addressing all parts, though some aspects lack refined synthesis.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The organization of the response is heavily flawed by poor paragraphing, conversational filler phrases like 'now, we are going to discuss abou', and run-on sentences. Cohesive devices are used excessively and repetitively, such as stringing clauses together repeatedly with 'then'. Paragraphing is not handled properly, with most of the text clumped into long, unstructured blocks that lack clear progression. While there is an overall attempt to group information chronologically and dimensionally, the mechanical cohesion and lack of proper punctuation pull the score down to Band 5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'underground railway system', 'route', and 'passengers'. However, there are noticeable word choice errors and confusions, such as referring to the railway as an 'underground bus service' and writing 'sdhortest'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with some inaccuracy, and repetitive phrasing ('passengers travelling through') limits lexical flexibility. Communication is not seriously impeded, but the lack of precise control places this firmly in the Band 5 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing relies heavily on run-on sentences joined by conjunctions like 'and' or connectors like 'then', lacking proper full stops and capitalization (e.g., 'paris', 'tokyo'). While there are some complex structures attempted, they are often faulty or poorly punctuated. Grammatical errors are frequent, particularly with verb tense consistency and subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'tokyo having highest', 'london having longest'). These errors require the reader to occasionally puzzle over the meaning, aligning the text with the Band 5 descriptor.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.