Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

the supplied table demonstrates the comparative data on underground railway infrastructure in six cities of different countries as london, paris, tokyo, washington dc, kyoto and los angeles. looking from an overall perspective, it is evident that london contain the higest kilometers route, while kyoto was the lowest from the table. however, tokyo contains the higest passengers per year.

to commence with, in london it was opned in 1863, and it contain the higest route of 394 kilometers. furthermore, it had 775 million passengers per year. likewise, paris was second ranked in route at 199 kilometers, while it was opned in 1900. additionally, it constitute of 1191 million passengers per year. however, it was constructed in tokyo in 1927. it was at third place in route of 155 kilometers, while it cntain the highest persentage of passengers of 1927 per year.

on the other hand, it was build in 1981 in washington dc, it was at fourth place by the route of 126 kilometers. nevertheless, it contain 144 million passengers per year. similarly, it was constructed in los angles in 2001 with 28 kilometer route, and it constitute of 50 million passenger rate per year. finally, kyoto was the lowest by route of 11 kilometer with 45 million passenger rate, and it was constructed in 1981.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main contrasts: London has the longest route, Kyoto the shortest, and Tokyo the highest annual passenger figure. You also include figures for all six cities, so the response is relevant and gives a basic account of the table. However, the overview is brief and does not bring out other useful comparisons, such as Tokyo’s passenger total being far above Paris’s despite its shorter route, or the newer systems generally having much smaller networks. There is also a factual error: Washington DC opened in 1976, not 1981; 1981 is Kyoto’s opening date. Develop the overview around the most significant patterns and check that each figure is matched to the correct city to make the summary more complete and reliable.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has an introduction, an overview and two body paragraphs, and it generally moves from the older, larger systems to the smaller ones. This gives the information some organisation. However, progression within the paragraphs is not always clear: the first body paragraph shifts between route length, opening date and passenger numbers without a consistent comparison pattern. Linking expressions such as “furthermore,” “likewise,” “however” and “nevertheless” are frequent, but some do not show a genuine contrast or addition, making the connections feel mechanical. The final paragraph also places Washington before Los Angeles and Kyoto without clearly explaining the grouping. Organise the details by a consistent feature, and use fewer, more precise transitions and clear references to each city.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “underground railway,” “route” and “passengers per year,” and you attempt a range of reporting expressions. However, the vocabulary is limited and several choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the meaning less clear. For example, “highest percentage of passengers” is not appropriate because the table gives a number, not a percentage; “passenger rate” is also an unclear substitute for annual passenger numbers. Spelling errors such as “higest,” “opned,” “cntain” and “los angles” are noticeable. Use precise terms such as “annual passenger numbers” and “route length,” and check spelling and word forms carefully. Avoid repeating “contain” when describing what the figures show.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple sentences and longer clauses, including comparisons with “while,” and the reader can usually understand the intended information. However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in basic sentence patterns, verb forms and agreement. For example, “London contain” should use a singular verb, while “it was opned” does not form a correct passive construction. The repeated pattern “it was constructed in…” also produces awkward sentence structures, and several sentences join multiple facts without clear grammatical control. Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent, particularly at sentence beginnings and with city names. Practise accurate present-tense descriptions of table data and vary sentence structures while keeping each comparison grammatically complete.

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