Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-01
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 provieded table chart illustrate the data on the underground railway system in six cities
Overall, it is evident that, London had the highest underground railway route .whereas, Kyoto was recorded the lowest routes.
To begin with, London had the highest kilometres route was recorded 394 km, which was opened in 1863. after this, Paris had 199 km routes and 1191 millions passengers were travelled per year and it was opened in 1900. Moreover, Tkoyo country was reported the highest passengers at around 1927 millions and it had 155 km route of railway line, which was opened in 1927.
Furthermore, country of Kyoto was accounted the lowest route in given countries at around 11 km and 45 millions passengers prefer to travel by Kyoto. However, in 2001, Los angles had a 28 km route of railway system while 50 millions passengers travelled per year. Washinton also recorded 126 km route, which opened in 1976 and 144 passengers travel per year.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses the task partially by attempting to summarise the main features of the underground railway systems table. However, the selection of data lacks a fully clear overview and presents some confusion in key details. For instance, the writer incorrectly states that Tokyo reported the highest passengers at '1927 millions'—confusing the year of opening (1927) with the passenger count (which was actually 1,927 million, though written confusingly as 1927). Furthermore, generalisations such as 'London had the highest underground railway route' are somewhat imprecise in expression. To reach higher bands, the response needs to present a clearer, more accurate summary of key trends without misinterpreting the provided figures, ensuring all main comparisons are fully and correctly developed.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
There is some organisation in the response, beginning with an introduction, an overall statement, and body sentences detailing the cities. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression, and the paragraphing is underdeveloped, with multiple distinct ideas crammed into a single block. Cohesive devices are used mechanically and sometimes inappropriately, such as starting sentences with 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'after this' in ways that disrupt the logical flow. Additionally, referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in the jump between Kyoto and Los Angeles. To improve, the writer should use paragraphing more effectively to separate different groups of data, such as older versus newer systems, and employ a wider, more natural variety of cohesive links.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The writer relies on basic terms and makes noticeable errors in word choice and spelling, such as 'provieded' instead of 'provided', 'chart' instead of 'table', and referring to Tokyo and Kyoto as 'countries' rather than cities. Other awkward collocations include 'highest kilometres route' and 'passengers prefer to travel by Kyoto'. These lexical slips and spelling errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher band, the student needs to build a broader range of vocabulary related to data trends, utilise precise lexical items for measurements and passenger numbers, and eliminate basic spelling and word-form errors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple or repetitively coordinated clauses. Attempts at complex sentences often result in structural faults and punctuation errors, such as the run-on sentence structure in '...Paris had 199 km routes and 1191 millions passengers were travelled per year and it was opened in 1900.' Frequent grammatical errors are present throughout the text, including tense and voice confusion ('passengers were travelled', 'passengers travel per year' instead of travelling), missing articles ('Washinton also recorded'), and awkward prepositional phrases. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader. To progress, the student must incorporate a wider mix of error-free complex structures and pay closer attention to active and passive voice agreement.
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