Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-12

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 4.5)

The table illustrates the underground railway Systems from 1863 to 2001 in the various cities of the world.This covers the length, years of their opening and number of pessengers travelled ever years.

Firstly in 1863 there is only one city's railway track which is london having a length of 394 Km with 775 pessenger per year .This is the longest tunnel of this table chart here.In 1900 paris tunnel is opened with a few number high of pessengers every year.Tokyo conatiend a large number of pessenegr with a number of 1927,Although its length is just 155Km.

In 1976 there was railway station constructed in Washington DC with small track of 126Km having a load of only 144 people per year.In koyota the smallest track is opened with 11 Km with the ratio of 45 individuals per year.

Los Anles's railway station is constructed in 20's with the exacct figure of 2001.The length of the track is just a double of koyoto's track which is 20 Km.everyyear 50 peopele per million ttravles from this station.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify the table’s subject and report several relevant figures, including London’s 394 km route, Tokyo’s 1,927 million passengers, and Kyoto’s 11 km network. However, the response gives only a limited account of the main features and comparisons. It does not clearly summarise the overall patterns—for example, that London is the oldest and has the longest route, while Tokyo carries the most passengers, and Los Angeles is the newest. Some figures are also inaccurate: Los Angeles has 28 km, not 20 km, and the table reports passengers in millions, not individual people. Develop a concise overview and compare the cities accurately to address the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic chronological arrangement, moving from London and Paris to later systems, and words such as “Firstly,” “Although,” and “In” help signal some relationships. This gives the reader a general sense of the order of information. However, there is no clear overview paragraph, and the progression between cities is sometimes abrupt: Paris and Tokyo are combined without a clear comparison, while the final paragraph shifts to Los Angeles with little connection to the preceding point. Several sentences also run together because of missing spaces or punctuation. Grouping the information by key comparisons—such as older, larger systems versus newer, smaller ones—and using clearer sentence boundaries would make the organisation easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “length,” “track,” “passengers,” and “constructed,” so the reader can recognise the subject. However, the range is basic and repetitive, and several word choices or spelling errors strain understanding. For example, “tunnel” is not an accurate substitute for a railway system or route, and “a few number high of passengers” does not express the intended comparison clearly. There are also repeated misspellings such as “pessengers,” “conatiend,” and “Koyota,” alongside imprecise expressions such as “load of only 144 people.” Use accurate terms consistently, such as “route length,” “annual passenger numbers,” and “carried,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the contrast in “Although its length is just 155Km.” However, control is limited: errors in sentence structure, verb forms, articles, and punctuation occur frequently and sometimes make relationships unclear. For instance, “In 1863 there is only one city's railway track” uses an unsuitable tense for a historical fact, while “every year” clauses are often attached awkwardly to the preceding sentence. The final sentence also contains an unclear construction around the route length and passenger figure. Practise writing complete, clearly punctuated sentences, using past tense for opening dates and accurate patterns such as “The system opened in…” and “It carried … million passengers annually.”

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.