Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-06

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 6.0)

The table illustrates the information about the underground railway systems in London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC , Kyoto and Los Angeles.

Overall, london had the oldest underground railway system with longest route, while kyoto had the shortest route. In contrast, Tokya accounted largest number of passengers per year, whereas Kyoto recorded lowest passengers.

London was oldest underground railway system opened in 1863 and had the longest route, at 394 kilometer, followed by paris at 199 kilometers and tokyo at 155 kilometers.The number of passengers per year was highest in tokyo at 1927 millions, paris at 1191 millions passengers and london art 775 millions passengers.

Wastinton DC had 126 kilometers of route with annual 144 million passengers. Los Angeles was the latest system opened in 2001 compared to other with 28 kilometers of route and 50 millions passengers annually. Kyoto had the lowest route at 11 kilometers and had least passengers per annually at 45 millions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by selecting and reporting the main features of the underground railway systems across the six cities, while making relevant comparisons. For instance, the overview correctly highlights that London had the oldest system with the longest route, while Kyoto had the shortest. Key data points such as Tokyo carrying the highest number of passengers (1927 million) and Los Angeles being the most recently opened system (2001) are accurately captured. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or presented as a list of facts without deeper synthesis. To move towards a higher band, the writer could provide more integrated comparisons between multiple cities rather than describing them largely in isolation, ensuring that every significant trend is fully explored.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the information logically. The response begins with an introduction, moves into an overview paragraph, and then breaks down the specific details into body paragraphs. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty due to repetitive phrasing and abrupt transitions between sentences. For example, moving between paragraph three and four feels disjointed because the referencing is not always completely clear. To achieve a higher level of cohesion, the writer should use a wider variety of cohesive devices more naturally and ensure that the progression of ideas flows smoothly from general statements to specific data without abrupt shifts.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to data reporting such as 'illustrates', 'accounted for', 'highest', and 'lowest'. There are, however, several word-choice, spelling, and word-form errors that reflect a developing lexicon. Examples include spelling errors like 'london', 'Tokya', 'paris', 'Wastinton', and minor word-form issues such as 'least passengers per annually' instead of 'annually'. While these inaccuracies do not impede overall communication, they prevent the response from reaching a higher band. To improve, the writer should focus on expanding their range of less common vocabulary, improving precision in collocations, and paying closer attention to spelling and capitalization.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over basic sentence structures when reporting statistics. There are, nevertheless, several noticeable errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text. Examples include missing articles ('London was oldest underground railway system' instead of 'London was the oldest'), incorrect prepositional phrases ('art 775 millions passengers' and 'per annually'), and pluralization inconsistencies ('1927 millions' instead of '1927 million'). Fortunately, these errors rarely impede communication and the meaning remains clear. To reach a higher standard, the writer needs to increase the frequency of error-free complex sentences and exercise better control over articles, prepositions, and numerical agreement.

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