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 illustrates information about underground railway systems in six cities. namely, London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles.

Overall, the Oldest and the longest underground railway system is in London. However, highest number of passengers travel through Tokyo underground railway system.

Underground railway system in London opened in 1863, it is 394 kilometers long and 775 million passengers travel through it per year. In paris, it opened in 1900 is 199 kilometer in length and every year 1191 passengers travel through it. In Tokyo, It opened in 1927, It's route consist of 155 kilometers and 1927 passengers travel through it every year. Well, these are oldest underground railway systems.

In Washington DC, it opened in 1976, it is 126 kilometers long and 144 million passengers travel through it every year. In Kyoto, it opened in 1981, consist of just 11 kilometers and 45 million passengers travel through it every year. In Los Angeles, it opened in 2001, it is 28 kilometers long and 50 million passengers travel every year. These are newly opened underground railway systems.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the six cities and report the opening dates, route lengths and annual passenger figures, with a useful overview that London is oldest and longest while Tokyo carries the most passengers. However, the overview is incomplete: it does not highlight that Kyoto has the shortest route and lowest passenger total, or that Los Angeles is the newest system. Some figures are also reported without the required unit: Paris’s “1191 passengers” and Tokyo’s “1927 passengers” should be 1,191 million and 1,927 million. The grouping of the first three as “oldest” and the last three as “newly opened” is broad and does not make the most meaningful comparisons. A fuller overview and precise reporting of the data would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs that group the older and newer systems. This makes the information easy to follow. The repeated pattern of giving each city’s opening date, length and passenger figure also helps readers compare the entries. However, the grouping is not fully explained, and the transition “Well, these are oldest underground railway systems” sounds conversational and does little to connect the data. The body paragraphs also rely heavily on repeated sentence patterns rather than linking comparisons, such as contrasting Tokyo’s passenger total with London’s much longer route. Use more precise transitions and organise around notable similarities and differences to create smoother progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing the table, including “route,” “kilometers long,” “opened,” and “passengers per year,” so the main information is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several phrases are repetitive, especially “it opened” and “passengers travel through it every year.” Some wording is imprecise: “highest number of passengers travel through Tokyo underground railway system” would be clearer as “Tokyo’s system carries the most passengers annually.” “Newly opened” is also not an accurate description of all three systems in the final group; “more recently established” is more suitable. Pay attention to consistent capitalisation of city names and avoid informal fillers such as “Well.” More varied, precise reporting verbs and comparison language would improve the description.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response communicates the main facts, but it relies mostly on simple sentence patterns and several attempts to combine clauses are faulty. For example, “Underground railway system in London opened in 1863, it is 394 kilometers long” joins two independent clauses with a comma; use a full stop or “and.” Similarly, “In paris, it opened in 1900 is 199 kilometer in length” lacks a clear grammatical connection between the opening date and the length. There are also inconsistent articles and agreement, as in “the Oldest and the longest underground railway system,” and “route consist.” Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent. Practise accurate compound and complex sentences, while checking articles, verb forms and sentence boundaries.

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