Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-05

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 4.5)

The given chart illustrates about the underground railway systems in six cities, London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, and Los Angels.

Overall, in year 1863, London was become the first city to open a new way to mastransit and nearly 394 kilometere were travelled while 775 million used this facility. Los Angels was the last city to introduce its native subway in 2001 and 50 millions people used that facility.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response fails to meet the minimum length requirement, containing only 61 words when at least 150 words are required (excluding 8 words copied directly from the prompt). Because of this severe under-length, the task is addressed only partially. While the student attempts to summarise some information by mentioning London and Los Angeles, key features of the other four cities are entirely omitted, and comparisons between the systems are missing. To reach higher bands, the writer must fully address all parts of the prompt, include data for all six cities, provide meaningful comparisons regarding dates, route lengths, and passenger numbers, and ensure the word count exceeds the 150-word minimum.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The writing demonstrates some basic organisation with an introductory sentence and an overall summary paragraph, but there is no clear overall progression due to the extremely limited content. Paragraphing is attempted, but cohesive devices are very basic or missing. For instance, transitional phrases between the two cities selected are abrupt. To improve, the student needs to group information logically, use a wider range of cohesive devices to link data points smoothly, and develop paragraphs that structure the overview and detailed comparisons in a clear, sequential manner.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for conveying basic facts, but it contains noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and word formation. Examples include 'mastransit' (mass transit), 'kilometere' (kilometres), and 'Los Angels' (Los Angeles). The student attempts some topic-specific vocabulary such as 'underground railway systems' and 'facility', but these are repetitive. To achieve a higher band, the writer must expand their lexical range to include precise synonyms and less common vocabulary related to data reporting, while eliminating spelling mistakes that cause difficulty for the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response shows a very limited range of sentence structures, relying on simple sentences and faulty attempts at complex forms. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as tense and verb form misuse ('London was become') and incorrect prepositional or structural patterns. Punctuation is also basic. These frequent errors can cause some difficulty for the reader. To improve, the student should practice using a healthy mix of error-free simple and complex structures, paying careful attention to past tense verbs for historical dates and maintaining accurate subject-verb agreement throughout the essay.

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

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