Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-10

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 4.0)

The table illustrates underground railway system in six diffrent countries establish between 1863 to 2001.

overall,it is evident that the people of tokyo and paris has highest figure throught the period ,Furthure more people of kyoto and los angles are indentical.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies the table’s subject and gives a broad comparison, noting that Tokyo and Paris have high passenger figures and that Kyoto and Los Angeles are similar in some respect. However, it does not adequately summarise the main features: it omits the opening dates and route lengths, gives no figures, and does not identify London as the oldest system with the longest route or Tokyo as the busiest. The statement that Paris and Tokyo have the “highest figure” is also imprecise because Tokyo leads in passengers, while Paris does not. The response is substantially below the required length, leaving the task minimally addressed. To improve, include a clear overview and select key comparisons supported by accurate data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic sequence: the first sentence introduces the table, and the second attempts to give an overview. This provides a small amount of organisation, but the response is too brief to develop a clear progression or group the information meaningfully. The overview also combines unrelated comparisons—passenger totals for Tokyo and Paris, then an unclear claim about Kyoto and Los Angeles—without explaining how the figures compare. The transition “overall” signals a summary, but the ideas are not connected or supported. A stronger response would use an introduction, a concise overview, and one or two organised comparison sentences, with linking expressions that clarify contrasts such as oldest versus newest or busiest versus least used.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses a few relevant terms, including “underground railway system,” “countries,” and “highest figure,” so the topic is recognisable. However, the vocabulary is very limited and some choices are inaccurate or unclear. “Countries” is not the right label for the six entries, which are cities, and “highest figure” does not specify whether this means route length or passenger numbers. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “diffrent,” “Furthure,” “indentical,” and “angles.” Use precise table language such as “cities,” “annual passenger numbers,” “route length,” and “the oldest/newest system.” Accurate spelling and more specific comparisons would make the information easier to understand.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts two sentences, including a time phrase (“between 1863 to 2001”) and an overview, but the grammatical range is very narrow and control is inconsistent. In “system … establish,” the noun phrase and verb form do not agree; “has highest figure” also has an agreement problem and is missing an article. The phrase “between … to” uses an incorrect grammatical pattern, and the second sentence contains a comma splice-like run-on after “overall.” Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent. These errors do not make the general topic impossible to identify, but they reduce clarity. Practise accurate simple comparisons first, then combine them with controlled clauses, for example: “Tokyo recorded the highest annual passenger total, at 1,927 million.”

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