Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The given table provides data about the system of underground railway in six cities: London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington n DC, Kyoto, and Los Angeles.

The oldest railway system is in London while newest is in Los Angeles. The Tokyo railway is the most busy, on the other hand, the least number of passengers carried by the Kyoto system. Table also provides the information about the routes of underground trains in these cities.

Despite the most ancient system, opened in 1863, in London 775 millions passengers per year travelled by it. This train covers route of 394 kilometers. Second most prestigious underground railway line is in Paris with 199 kilometers of route. It takes 1191-million passengers annually. In 1927, subway system started in Tokyo that carries 1927-million passengers in a year, being the most used railway. Its route covers 155-kilometer.

Washington n DC introduced this system in 1976, with 126-kilometer route and carries 144 millions travellers per year. Kyoto train covers 11-kilometer distance and the number of passengers who travel by it in a year are 45-million and initiated in 1981. Recently, in 2001, Los Angeles has implemented this system with 28-kilometer route and 50-million passengers per year take this service.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover all six cities and report the three key measures: opening date, route length and annual passenger numbers. The overview identifies London as the oldest system, Los Angeles as the newest, and Tokyo as the busiest, while Kyoto carries the fewest passengers. These are relevant main features, and the figures are generally reported accurately. However, some comparisons could be developed more clearly: for example, London has the longest route, but this is not explicitly highlighted, and Paris carries more passengers than London despite having a much shorter route. The description of Paris as “second most prestigious” is not supported by the table and does not convey a measurable feature. Focus the overview on the strongest contrasts and compare the figures directly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a brief overview and a city-by-city account. The information is generally easy to follow, and sequencing the systems by city gives the reader a consistent route through the data. Linking expressions such as “while,” “on the other hand” and “Despite” show an attempt to connect ideas, although some links are awkward or do not express the intended relationship clearly. For instance, “Despite the most ancient system” does not smoothly introduce the London figures, and the overview repeats information that is then given again in detail. Grouping the cities by useful contrasts—such as older, larger systems versus newer, smaller ones—would create stronger progression and reduce repetition.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for describing the table, including “annually,” “route,” “covers” and “introduced.” The meaning is usually clear, and you make some attempts to vary your wording. However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for this data, such as “most prestigious” for a railway system with the second-longest route, “most busy” instead of “busiest,” and “implemented this system” for opening a railway. There are also inconsistent forms in expressions such as “775 millions passengers” and “144 millions travellers.” These do not prevent understanding, but they reduce precision and naturalness. Prefer standard data-reporting collocations such as “carried,” “served,” “had a route length of” and “passengers per year.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex sentences, including clauses with “while” and “that,” and most of the data remains understandable. Some grammatical errors persist, however. In “while newest is in Los Angeles,” the superlative needs an article (“the newest”), and “the least number of passengers carried by the Kyoto system” is not a complete, well-formed clause. There are also agreement and sentence-structure problems in “the number of passengers … are 45-million and initiated in 1981,” where the subject and verb do not match and the opening date is attached unclearly. Check articles, singular/plural agreement and whether each sentence has a complete main clause. More consistently accurate complex sentences would improve control.

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