Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-09

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 6.5)

The table compares the railway systems operating underground in six major cities, in terms of years when they were inaugurated, total route they covered and passengers they carried.

Overall, London had the oldest underground railway network while the Los Angeles underground railway station was relatively new. Tokyo carried the largest number of passengers as compared to Kyoto that came in last among all six cities.

To begin with, the underground railway system was first opened in London in 1863 and it covered the total route of 394 kilometers and carried 775 million passengers throughout. Just behind London, Paris and Tokyo started to operate their underground railway networks in 1900 and 1927, respectively. Although Tokyo's total route was least among the three cities, it still reported the highest number of passengers among all.

Washington DC also inaugurated the Underground railway systems in 1976 and the total number of passengers who travelled through it stood at 144 million. . Los Angeles underground railway system was relatively new but it still carried the higher number of passengers than Kyoto, at 50 million that began operating in 1981.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main comparisons: London is the oldest and has the longest route, while Tokyo carries the most passengers and Kyoto the fewest. You also include figures for most cities, so the response addresses the task. However, some information is incomplete or unclear. The overview does not mention that London has the longest route, and the body omits Kyoto’s route length and passenger figure as well as Los Angeles’s route length. The sentence saying Tokyo’s route was “least among the three cities” is also inaccurate: it was shorter than London’s and Paris’s, but not the shortest of all six. Include the key extremes and report all three measures consistently to make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details about the cities, and phrases such as “To begin with” and “Just behind London” help signal progression. The comparisons between London, Paris and Tokyo are generally easy to follow. However, the grouping is not fully systematic: Washington, Los Angeles and Kyoto are compressed into the final section, and Kyoto’s details are not clearly reported. Some linking is also mechanical, particularly the repeated use of “and” to join several facts. Organising the data into two clear groups—for example, older, larger systems and newer, smaller ones—and using more precise references would make the progression more controlled.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for describing the table, including “inaugurated,” “relatively new,” “total route” and “carried the largest number of passengers.” These choices communicate the general subject clearly, and there is some variation in how the figures are described. However, several expressions are imprecise or awkward for this context: “railway station” refers to a station rather than a network, “total route they covered” is unnatural, and “came in last” is informal. “Reported the highest number” is also less direct than saying the system carried the most passengers. Aim for consistent, precise terms such as “network,” “route length” and “annual passenger numbers,” and use formal comparative phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including the contrast in “Although Tokyo’s total route was least among the three cities, it still reported the highest number of passengers.” Most sentences remain understandable, and the errors do not prevent the reader from following the main comparisons. Some grammatical and punctuation issues remain, however. In “the total route they covered,” the pronoun reference is unclear, while “the total route of 394 kilometers” would be more naturally structured as “a total route length of 394 kilometres.” The final paragraph contains an extra full stop after “144 million,” and the sentence about Los Angeles and Kyoto combines information in a confusing way. Check sentence boundaries and make comparisons grammatically explicit.

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