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)
Firstly we will talk about the london railway system. It was opened in year 1863. It has an total kilometer route of 394 . About 775 Million passengers per year use this system. Pairs has also railway system of 199 kilometer of routes. It was opened in 1900.This system servers almost 1191 million passengers per year. In the captail of japan, Tokyo Railway system was made in 1927 with route kilometer of 155. Every year Tokyo railway system servers the 1927 million passenger per year.
The Washington dc , captial of America has an Railway system of 126 kilometer routes, which was opened in 1976. It serves 144 million passengers per year . Kyoto railway system starts in 1981 with 11 kilometer of routes . Around 45 million passenger every year travels through this system . At last los Angeles railway was opened in the 2001 with 28 kilometer of routes and 50 million people travels through this .
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The student attempts to cover all six cities presented in the table, reporting details such as opening dates, route lengths, and passenger numbers. However, the response lacks an overview or summary of the main trends and makes very few direct comparisons between the cities, which is a core requirement of Academic Task 1. For example, while the writer lists London, Paris, and Tokyo individually, they fail to highlight that Tokyo carries the highest number of passengers despite having a relatively small route network, or that Kyoto has the shortest route and lowest passenger numbers. Because the information is presented as a list of disconnected facts rather than a well-synthesised summary with salient features and comparisons, this places the response at Band 5.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The organisation of the text is basic, with information grouped loosely by cities in two blocks of text rather than structured paragraphs that compare different metrics or periods. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes awkward, such as starting with 'Firstly we will talk about the london railway system' and ending with 'At last los Angeles railway'. The use of paragraphing is inadequate, as the entire body of information is crammed into just two dense blocks. Reference pronouns are occasionally unclear, and there is no clear overall progression guiding the reader logically through the data. These mechanical and limited cohesive features reflect Band 5 criteria.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is largely basic and repetitive, relying heavily on terms provided directly in the prompt such as 'railway system', 'kilometer of routes', 'opened', and 'passengers per year'. There are noticeable spelling and capitalisation errors, including 'london', 'Pairs', 'captail', 'japan', 'servers', and 'los Angeles'. The writer makes some attempts to use synonyms or paraphrasing, but the range is quite limited, and the lexical errors occasionally cause minor distractions for the reader. This performance aligns closely with Band 5 descriptors for Lexical Resource.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student uses a mix of simple sentences and basic complex structures, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('the london railway system', 'captail of japan'), incorrect prepositions ('route kilometer of 155'), subject-verb agreement issues ('Tokyo railway system servers'), and awkward phrasing ('It has an total kilometer route of 394'). While the meaning is generally retrievable despite these errors, the high frequency of basic mistakes and lack of error-free complex structures prevent the response from reaching Band 6. A score of 5.0 is appropriate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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