Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

This table provides the information about the underground railways systems in six different cities.

Overall,The earlier and longest underground railway systems were built in london. Tokyo experienced the most number of passesngers, while kyoto had the shortest underneath railway system with minimum passengers per year.

In 1863, London had built there underground railway system with total coverage of 394 kilometers with an average of 775 millions people as passengers. After that paris came with the underground system in 1900 , but there route was at 199 kilometers with the 1191 millions of passengers per year.On the other hand , the underground railway system in Tokyo was constructed in 1927, but Tokyo experienced biggest numbers of passengers per year estimated 1927 millions.

In 1976, Washington DC came with there tunnel train, there route covered 126 kilometers with 144 millions of pessengers every year , While kyoto had there trian system in1981 but there train only covers around 11 kilometer underground that is explained why they had lowest number of passesngers every year. In the last , Los Angeles covered 28 kilometers underneath with 50 million passesngers every year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main patterns in the table: London is the oldest and has the longest route, while Tokyo has the highest annual passenger figure and Kyoto the shortest route and lowest usage. The body also reports figures for all six cities, so the response covers the task well. To make the overview more complete and precise, compare the passenger totals explicitly—for example, Tokyo’s 1,927 million is far above London’s 775 million—and note that Los Angeles, not Kyoto, is the newest system. Some details are less fully reported: the opening dates and route lengths are included, but the comparisons between cities are mostly presented one by one rather than developed across the data. This clear overview and broad coverage are strong, while fuller synthesis would strengthen the response further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs that group the older and newer systems. This makes the information easy to follow, and transitions such as “After that” and “On the other hand” help signal movement between cities. However, some linking is mechanical or not quite suited to the relationship being described; “On the other hand” does not establish a clear contrast between Paris and Tokyo. The final paragraph also moves through Washington, Kyoto, and Los Angeles without a strong comparative thread. Use more precise links such as “By contrast” only where there is a genuine contrast, and group cities by a shared feature, such as route length or passenger numbers. This would make progression smoother and references clearer.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate the table’s main information, including “coverage,” “route,” “passengers per year,” and “shortest.” However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “passesngers,” “tunnel train,” and “underneath railway system.” Repeated use of “came with” and “there” also reduces precision; “there” is not the appropriate possessive form in these sentences. Spelling errors, including “trian” and “pessengers,” are noticeable and can distract the reader. Aim for standard, precise terms such as “underground network,” “was opened,” and “carried,” and check spelling carefully. More accurate collocations would help you describe the figures without relying on repeated or informal wording.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, and the overall meaning is generally understandable. However, control of sentence structure and basic grammar is inconsistent. For example, “In 1863, London had built there underground railway system” uses an unsuitable past perfect form and an incorrect possessive, while “Tokyo experienced biggest numbers” is missing an article and has an awkward plural construction. There are also punctuation and spacing problems, such as “Overall,The” and “in1981,” and some sentences run together around commas. Use the past simple for opening dates (“London’s system opened in 1863”) and check articles, possessives, and sentence boundaries. More consistently accurate sentence patterns would make the comparisons clearer.

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