Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The table illustrates the comparisons between six cities of different countries about the railway systems that are built underground.

Overall, the first opened railway system was in london in 1863 and the latest was los Angeles railway in 2001. The largest kilometer route is also belong to london, while the shortest runway for train is just 11 kilometer in the Kyoto city was start in 1981.

Although substantial cities London, Paris, and Tokyo have the longest railway systems and also the greater number of passengers which shows that their figures were more than 1000 millions excluding the london. Paris opened date was after 37 years of london railway and tokyo in 1927 where tokyo has highest passengers per year than any other with 1927 million. It's route is 155 kilometer in length smaller than paris and london. Paris has just one digit less than 200 kilometer route with 1191 passengers per year, whereas london has largest route of 394 kilometer along with 775 million passengers.

Furthermore, Washington DC underground railway introduce in 1976 with average length of track 126 kilometers and sufficient passengers 144 million in a year. Meanwhile, Kyoto and Los Angeles has minimum difference in passengers with only 5 million in a single year but los Angeles railway track was longer than Kyoto with 28 and 11 kilometers respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student successfully identifies and reports the main features of the underground railway systems across the six cities, fulfilling the core requirements of Task 1. The response presents an overview noting the earliest and latest dates of opening, along with key comparisons regarding route length and passenger numbers. Key data points such as Tokyo's exceptionally high passenger volume (1927 million) and London's extensive route (394 km) are accurately cited and contrasted. However, there are some inaccuracies in reporting the data; for example, the student states that Tokyo's passenger figures were the highest 'with 1927 million' (which matches the table correctly, though it ironically mirrors the year 1927), but misses a few precise details or trends by slightly misinterpreting data points (such as stating Paris has 1191 passengers instead of 1191 million). Nonetheless, all parts of the visual information are addressed adequately, supporting a solid Band 6.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is organized into four distinct paragraphs, presenting a logical overall progression from an introductory overview to specific details about older and newer systems. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas and make comparisons, such as 'Overall', 'Although', 'Furthermore', and 'Meanwhile'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty or mechanical. For instance, capitalization is frequently missing for proper nouns like 'london', 'los Angeles', and 'tokyo', which disrupts the smooth flow of reading. Additionally, some transition phrases feel slightly awkward or repetitive ('whereas london has largest route...'). Paragraphing is used sufficiently to structure the response, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be tighter and more natural. This places the performance firmly at Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate lexical range for the task, successfully incorporating vocabulary such as 'railway systems', 'passengers per year', 'length', and 'substantially'. Less common vocabulary items are attempted, though with mixed success and occasional word-choice inaccuracies, such as 'runway for train' instead of 'track' or 'route', and 'introduce in 1976' instead of 'was introduced'. Furthermore, there are persistent spelling and capitalization errors throughout the text (e.g., 'london', 'tokyo', 'los Angeles'). While these errors do not severely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5, as precise control over word choice and orthography is inconsistent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing subordinate clauses introduced by 'Although' and 'while'. However, grammatical accuracy is noticeably weak across the text. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement and tense usage, such as 'The largest kilometer route is also belong to london', 'Kyoto city was start in 1981', 'Paris opened date was after 37 years', and 'Washington DC underground railway introduce in 1976'. Moreover, missing capitalization for proper nouns ('london', 'paris', 'tokyo') reflects poor control over basic punctuation rules. These errors occur regularly and occasionally cause slight strain for the reader, aligning the grammar score with Band 5.0.

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

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