Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-13

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 5.0)

This chart tells us about the underground railway sytems in various cities with telling thier opening date, total sixe of thier route in km, and how many million of passenger per year it supports.

This chart tells about the railway system of London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto, Los Angeles. among all these the first underground railway station was opened in 1863 in London which has the 394 km route and passenger capability of 775 Million passengers per year.

After that, Paris underground railway system was built in 1900, in 1927 Tokyo and in 1976 Washington Dc underground railway system was built all of them have the route below 200 km.

Kyoto and Los Angeles underground railway systems were built in late 19s and in early 2000s which have the shortest route of around 10-30 km and passenger capacity of 45-50 million persons per year

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the subject and report several relevant figures, including London’s opening date and route length, and you note that Kyoto and Los Angeles have the shortest routes. However, the summary is incomplete: it omits the passenger figures for Paris, Tokyo and Washington, and does not clearly compare the systems’ annual usage. The overview is also limited; the most important pattern—that London is the oldest and has the longest route, while Tokyo carries the most passengers—is not stated. Some details are inaccurate or unclear, such as describing Kyoto and Los Angeles as built in the “late 19s.” The response is also below the required minimum length. Select the main extremes and comparisons, and report the data accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response follows a broadly chronological order, moving from London to Paris, Tokyo and Washington, then to Kyoto and Los Angeles. This gives the reader a basic sequence, and phrases such as “After that” help signal progression. However, the organisation is repetitive: the opening sentence and the next sentence both introduce the chart and list the cities. There is no distinct overview paragraph, and the final sentence combines two cities without clearly distinguishing their figures. The linking is also limited, so comparisons between route length and passenger numbers are not developed. A clearer structure—an overview followed by grouped comparisons—would make the information easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “underground railway system,” “route,” “passenger capability” and “per year,” so the subject is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and some choices are inaccurate or awkward, such as “passenger capability” for annual passenger numbers and “built” for a railway system’s opening. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “sytems,” “thier” and “sixe,” which reduce the accuracy of the writing. Repetition of “chart tells” and “underground railway system” further limits variety. Use precise data-reporting language and check spelling; for example, describe systems as “opened” and figures as annual passenger totals.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple sentences and longer structures, including the sentence beginning “After that,” which links several opening dates. However, the range is limited, and longer sentences are often difficult to control. In the opening, “with telling thier opening date” is not a complete or well-formed grammatical construction. The sentence about London also has awkward article and number patterns in “has the 394 km route” and “775 Million passengers.” Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent, particularly the lowercase “among” after a full stop and “Washington Dc.” Use shorter, clearly punctuated sentences, and practise accurate article use and plural forms when describing the figures.

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.