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 column table below illustrates information about the underground railway systems in London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto, Los Angeles.
Overall, London is the oldest Railway system, While Los Angeles is the new one. The greatest kilometers of route is of London and Kyoto has the smallest route. Tokyo has greater number of travellers per year in (millions), but Kyoto has few numbers of passengers per year in (millions).
The railway sytem of London was opened in 1863 and Los angeles was opened in 2001. The route of london had 394 kilometers followed by paris which has 199 kilometers route. Tokyo had 126 kilometers route edged up by Washington DC 126 kilometers. Los Angeles and Kyoto both had the smallest route of 28 and 11 kilometers.
Tokyo had the Greatest number of travellers travelled per year of about 1927 millions. London and Paris also had limited number pf passengers of 775 and 1191 (millions). Kyoto has 45 millions of passengers travelled 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 outlining some of the main features of the underground railway systems provided in the table. The student attempts an overview and highlights specific details such as the oldest and newest systems, as well as routes and passenger numbers. However, the information is presented in a somewhat disjointed manner, and several key comparisons are missed or inaccurate. For instance, the text claims that Tokyo had '126 kilometers route edged up by Washington DC 126 kilometers', which misrepresents the data since Washington DC has 126 kilometers and Tokyo has 155. Ideas remain limited and under-developed, and the response lacks a fully clear progression of data reporting. To move to a higher level, the writer needs to select data more accurately, ensure all comparisons are mathematically correct based on the prompt, and extend the overview to cover the most salient trends comprehensively.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response demonstrates some organization, with an opening introductory sentence, an overview paragraph, and subsequent detail paragraphs. However, there is no clear overall progression throughout the text, and the relationships between ideas are sometimes mechanical or confusing. Cohesive devices are used minimally and occasionally inappropriately, such as using 'While' in the middle of a sentence with incorrect capitalization ('Overall, London is the oldest Railway system, While Los Angeles is the new one'). Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of data feels disjointed, with details about routes and passenger numbers mixed rather than logically structured by category or city. To improve coherence and cohesion, the student should ensure logical sequencing of data, use clear transitional phrases to guide the reader through comparisons, and maintain a consistent structural flow between sentences and paragraphs.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to convey basic information about the table. The student attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'illustrates', 'greatest', and 'travellers', but these attempts are accompanied by noticeable errors in word choice, form, and collocation. Examples include 'new one' instead of 'newest', 'greater number of travellers' where 'highest volume of passengers' would be more precise, and 'few numbers of passengers' instead of 'the lowest number of passengers'. Additionally, there are minor issues like 'column table' instead of simply 'table'. These lexical inaccuracies and limitations cause some occasional difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher score, the student should incorporate a wider, more precise range of vocabulary suitable for academic reporting, such as verbs of change and comparison, and ensure accurate collocation when discussing statistical data.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response exhibits a limited range of grammatical structures, relying primarily on simple sentences alongside a few attempts at complex or compound forms which often contain errors. There are frequent mistakes in tense usage, article selection, capitalization, and prepositions within grammatical patterns. Examples include 'The greatest kilometers of route is of London' (subject-verb agreement and phrasing issues), 'Tokyo has greater number of travellers per year in (millions)' (missing articles and awkward parenthetical usage), and 'Los angeles was opened in 2001' (capitalization error). Punctuation and sentence boundaries also show instability. These frequent errors can cause difficulty for the reader. To progress, the writer must focus on improving control over basic grammatical structures, ensuring correct subject-verb agreement, proper article use with statistical terms, and accurate punctuation.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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