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)

This table shows, Underground Railway system: which city have underground railway system and when it's open also describe how many peoples travels in particular city's railway station in millions.

Firstly, In 1863, Underground railway station opened. It had 394 kilometers route and 775 million passengers Travelling per year. After that ,In Paris, 399 kilometers of route undergoing railways open in 1900. In this railway 1191 million passengers travelling per year.

As above information add one more underground Railway in Tokyo at 1927 with 155 kilometers route. In this train 1927 million passenger travels per year. In another city- Washington DC have also underground railways in 1976 with 126 kilometers route and having 144 passengers per year in Washington's railways.

Additionally, in 1981, Kyoto have also underground railway facilities with 11 kilometers of route and in this railway 45 million passengers Travelling per year. Lasy but not least Los city had underground railways in 2001 with 28 kilometers and every yeat 50 billion people travelling in this city by train.

Overall, Firstly opened underground railways open in London and mostly passengers had travelling by underground railways in Tokyo city as well London have longest routes railway about 394 kilometers according above table.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You include information about all six cities and identify two important comparisons: London has the longest route and Tokyo carries the most passengers. However, the overview is unclear and does not accurately summarise the main patterns, while several figures are reported incorrectly. Paris is given as having 399 kilometres rather than 199, and Los Angeles is said to carry “50 billion” passengers instead of 50 million. The opening also describes the table rather than directly summarising its key features. These inaccuracies and the limited comparison between cities mean the task is addressed only minimally. To improve, give a concise overview of the oldest and largest systems, then compare the figures accurately and consistently.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has separate paragraphs and follows a broadly chronological order, moving from London and Paris through to Los Angeles. Linking expressions such as “Firstly,” “After that,” and “Additionally” help signal this sequence. However, the organisation is repetitive: most paragraphs list one or two cities without grouping or comparing related information, and the final paragraph repeats points already mentioned. Some transitions are awkward or unclear, particularly “As above information add one more underground Railway in Tokyo.” A clearer progression would be an introduction, an overview of the main contrasts, and body paragraphs grouping the older, larger systems separately from the newer, smaller ones. This would make the relationships between the figures easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

Vocabulary is basic and often repetitive, especially the repeated use of “underground railway,” “route,” and “travelling.” Some wording makes the intended meaning difficult to interpret, such as “how many peoples travels in particular city's railway station,” where the table reports annual passengers rather than people travelling in a station. There are also inaccurate word choices and forms, including “50 billion” for 50 million and “Lasy” and “yeat.” The response does use relevant terms such as “kilometers” and “passengers per year,” so the topic is generally recognisable, but errors sometimes strain the reader. Use precise data-reporting phrases and check number units and spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response relies mainly on simple sentence patterns, with limited control of more varied structures. Errors are frequent and sometimes make relationships between ideas unclear. For example, “which city have underground railway system” has problems with question structure, agreement, and articles, while “In this train 1927 million passenger travels per year” has errors in number agreement and verb form. Tense and sentence construction are also inconsistent in “After that, In Paris, 399 kilometers of route undergoing railways open in 1900.” Capitalisation and punctuation are uneven, including unnecessary capitals and spaces before commas. Practise accurate present-tense descriptions and past-tense opening dates, and build complete sentences around each comparison.

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