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 graph illusterates about a underground railways system in six cities. I will explain in the following.

In graph shows that different cities name, date, route and passengers per year all cities are different information because all cities are different. In London kilometers of route is high then others and Kyoto is very high then others. In Tokyo passengers per year is very high then other cities and in Kyoto passengers per year is very low then others.

Washinton DC is opened in 1976 and kilometers of route is 126 and passengers per year is high then Kyoto and Los. While Los Angeles is opened last so kilometer of route is very low then other cities while London kilometers of route is high then other cities.

In conclusion,London kilometers of route is vey high then other cities but Kyoto is very low because London is opened before then other cities. Passengers per year is very high in Tokyo and loe passengers in Kyoto.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify some relevant comparisons, including London having the longest route and Tokyo carrying the most passengers, and you note that Kyoto has the lowest passenger figure. However, the response reports only a small part of the table and does not give a clear, accurate overview of the main patterns. Several details are missing, such as Tokyo’s route length, Paris’s passenger total, and the contrast between London’s large network and Tokyo’s high usage. The statement that Kyoto’s route is “very high” is also incorrect; it is the shortest. To improve, select the most important extremes and contrasts, report the figures accurately, and avoid unsupported explanations such as linking London’s route length to its earlier opening date.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The response has separate paragraphs and attempts to group information, with phrases such as “In conclusion” signalling a final summary. However, the ideas do not progress in a clear, logical way: the opening promises an explanation, the second paragraph repeats that cities differ, and the final paragraph restates earlier points. Some comparisons are difficult to follow because the relationships between cities are not clearly expressed. For example, “Kyoto is very high then others” conflicts with the later claim that it is very low. Organise the report around clear comparisons—such as oldest and newest systems, route lengths, and passenger numbers—and use linking phrases to show each relationship accurately.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use basic task-related vocabulary, including “route,” “passengers per year,” and “opened,” so the general subject is recognisable. However, the range is repetitive and several word choices or spellings reduce precision. “Graph” is not the best label for the table, while “high then others” is repeated instead of using more precise comparative language. There are also spelling errors such as “illusterates,” “Washinton,” “vey,” and “loe.” These do not make the topic impossible to understand, but they weaken clarity and control. Build a small set of accurate terms for describing tables, rankings, and differences, and check spelling before finishing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

Your response mainly uses short, simple statements, and the reader can understand several intended comparisons. However, grammatical errors occur frequently, and the range of sentence structures is very limited. For example, “In graph shows that different cities name” lacks a clear subject and has an incomplete structure; “kilometers of route is high” has subject–verb agreement problems; and “London is opened before” uses an incorrect verb form. Articles and sentence boundaries also need attention, as in “a underground railways system” and “In conclusion,London.” Practise forming complete sentences with accurate subjects and verbs, and use comparative structures such as “London’s route is longer than Kyoto’s.”

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.