Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-02

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 illustrate the information of underground railway systems in major cities including dates, total route and total passengers per year.

Overall, It can be seen that London is one of the earliest railway system that opened in 1863 with the longest route in kilometres, while the Los Angeles is newest underground railway system but has only few kilometers in route. In term, of highest passengers carrying per year Tokyo leads.

In 1863, London railway system is opened and remained the longest train route for passengers travelling per year followed by the paris city which has the second longest distance in kilometre after the london, However the paris railway system and Tokyo is carrying the largest number of proportion of people per year.

Moving to further detail, the Washingtopn DC underground system opened in 1976 and have a decent route in Total, whereas the newest railway system like kyoto and Los Angeles have only few passengers per year travelling between 45-50 million per year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task partially by selecting and reporting some main features of the underground railway systems, such as mentioning that London opened earliest and Tokyo carried the most passengers. However, the information is sometimes inaccurate or poorly interpreted, such as the claim that Paris and Tokyo carry the largest proportion of people when Tokyo clearly has the highest absolute figure of 1,927 million, while Paris has 1,191 million. Ideas remain limited and under-developed, with key data comparisons missing or glossed over. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to select all key features accurately, provide a fully supported overview, and ensure all data points mentioned are correctly interpreted and compared without factual confusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some basic organisation in the response, featuring an introduction, body paragraphs, and an overall statement, but the overall progression lacks clarity and logical flow. Cohesive devices are used awkwardly or inaccurately, such as starting a paragraph with 'In 1863, London railway system is opened and remained...' and transitioning clumsily with phrases like 'Moving to further detail'. Paragraphing is attempted, but sentences within paragraphs feel disjointed rather than building a cohesive argument. To improve, the writer needs to ensure that ideas flow logically from one sentence to the next, use cohesive ties more naturally, and avoid repetitive transitional phrasing that disrupts the progression of information.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary range used is limited but minimally adequate for describing basic data. The writer makes several noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and phrasing, such as 'The table illustrate', 'highest passengers carrying', 'Washingtopn DC', and 'few kilometers in route'. While some attempts are made to use descriptive vocabulary, these lexical slips and awkward collocations cause some difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher score, the writer must expand their vocabulary range, use precise terms for data reporting (such as 'network length' instead of 'route in kilometres'), ensure correct word forms, and eliminate spelling mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple sentences. Attempts at complex sentence forms are frequently faulty, leading to numerous errors in verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and articles. Examples include 'London railway system is opened' (tense inconsistency with the past date 1863), 'Paris city which has the second longest distance in kilometre after the london' (run-on structure with capitalization and article errors), and 'have a decent route in Total'. These frequent grammatical errors cause difficulty and strain for the reader. To progress, the writer needs to gain better control over basic sentence patterns, maintain consistent past tenses when discussing historical data, and improve punctuation and article usage.

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