Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

There are 6 cities :

London , Paris , Tokyo , Washington DC , kyoto and Los Angeles.

The City which have more kilometers of route is London ( 394 ) and The City having least km of routes is Kyoto. The City Tokyo have the more passengers per years about 1927.

The City whom have the last passengers per year is Kyoto. The oldest City that have underground railway system is London . It was opened in 1863 and the newest in the table is Los Angeles the date it was opened is 2001.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, as it contains only 95 words. Consequently, the task is addressed only minimally. While the student attempts to highlight some main features from the table, such as identifying London as having the most kilometers of route (394) and Tokyo having the highest number of passengers (1927), the selection of data is basic and lacks sufficient detail and comparison. Ideas are underdeveloped, and important trends or broader comparisons between the cities are omitted. To reach a higher band, you must write at least 150 words and provide a more thorough overview of the data by grouping information logically and making meaningful comparisons across multiple categories.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response presents information with some basic organization, but there is no clear overall progression or paragraphing. Sentences are written as isolated statements rather than forming a cohesive whole. Cohesive devices are largely absent, with excessive reliance on repetitive sentence openings such as 'The City'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, for example in the phrase 'The City whom have the last passengers'. To improve, you need to group related data into well-structured paragraphs and use a wider variety of cohesive devices, such as transition words and pronouns, to connect your ideas logically and guide the reader smoothly through the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, relying heavily on simple terms directly copied from the prompt, such as 'cities', 'kilometers of route', and 'passengers per year'. There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, including 'have more kilometers', 'having least km', and 'last passengers per year' instead of 'fewest'. While the meaning is generally communicated despite these errors, the range is limited. To achieve a higher band, you should incorporate a broader and more precise range of vocabulary, using synonyms and less common academic collocations to describe statistical trends without relying on repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response demonstrates a very limited range of grammatical structures, consisting mainly of simple sentences with frequent structural errors. There are notable mistakes in verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and relative pronouns, such as 'The City which have', 'The City Tokyo have the more', and 'The City whom have'. Punctuation and capitalization errors are also present, including unnecessary spaces around punctuation marks and uncapitalized names like 'kyoto'. To move up to the next band, you must increase your control over basic grammar rules, ensure accurate subject-verb agreement, and attempt a wider variety of error-free complex sentence structures.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.