Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The table represents the information of six underground train systems from different cities.

Overall, while London railway system is the oldest and has the highest number of routes, Tokyo has the highest number of passengers per capita. The most recent railway system was introduced in Los Angeles.

London railway system was introduced in 1863 and expanded on 394 kilometers but the passenger per capita is only 775 million, whereas Paris routes are half of that at approimately 200 kilometers has 1 and half times more passengers than London, accounting for 1191 million.

Tokyo and Washington DC systems was introduced around in the middle of 20th century and have almost 150 kilometers of routes. London's passengers who travel is far higher than any other country at approximately 200 million, compared with 144 millions for Washington DC.

Looking at the newely introduced systems, Kyoto and Los Angeles with 11 and 28 kilometers of route respectively. There figures are under 50 million in a year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify several key comparisons, including London as the oldest system with the longest route and Tokyo as the busiest, and you include figures for all six cities. However, the overview contains a major factual error: Tokyo has the highest total number of passengers, not the highest number “per capita.” The comparison of Tokyo and Washington is also inaccurate: Tokyo opened in 1927, but Washington opened in 1976, and their route lengths are 155 and 126 km rather than “almost 150” for both. The passenger comparison then mistakenly refers to London and “any other country.” To improve, report the figures precisely and organise the main trends around age, route length and annual passenger totals.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and paragraphs grouping the older and newer systems. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “whereas” and “Looking at” help signal comparisons. However, progression becomes unclear in the paragraph about Tokyo and Washington: “London’s passengers who travel” appears unrelated to the two cities being discussed, and “any other country” makes the reference difficult to follow. Some comparisons are compressed into long sentences, particularly the Paris sentence, which joins route length and passenger figures without a clear grammatical link. Use one focused comparison per sentence and make each city reference explicit to create a more consistent progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing data, including “expanded,” “accounting for” and “introduced,” and you attempt comparative language such as “half of that” and “far higher.” However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for this task. “Passengers per capita” incorrectly suggests a population-based measure; the table gives annual passenger totals. “Passenger per capita” and “passengers who travel” are also imprecise, while “routes” is less suitable than “route length” or “network.” Spelling errors such as “approimately” and “newely” are noticeable. Choose precise data-reporting terms and check spelling; this will make the comparisons clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including a contrast with “whereas” and a participle phrase with “accounting for.” Some sentence patterns communicate the intended comparisons, but errors in agreement, articles and sentence construction remain. For example, “Tokyo and Washington DC systems was introduced” should use a plural verb, and “whereas Paris routes are half of that … has” lacks a clear subject–verb structure. “London railway system” also needs an article, and “There figures” should be “Their figures.” The long Paris sentence is difficult to parse because its clauses are not joined cleanly. Practise building shorter comparison sentences, then check agreement and possessive forms.

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