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 depicts information on six cities pertaining their underground railway system with units depicted in kilometers and millions.

Overall, Tokyo has the higgest population of passengers per year and kyoto recording the lowest. London has the most elongated route.

London is the only country that had her railway system opened in the 19th century and the longest of rail that is 394km and passengers recorded per year is 775 million and Los Angeles is the only railway system opened in the 21st century and is 28 km long with 50 million passengers every year.

Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC and Kyoto, were all opened in the 20th century and have their railway system distant at 199,155,126 and 11 kilometers respectively and have an anual passengers of one billion, one hundered and ninety-one million, one billion one hundered and twenty-seven million, 144 million and 45 million respectively. Kyoto is the smallest both in kilometers and number of passengers annually.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main patterns: Tokyo has the highest annual passenger figure, Kyoto the lowest, and London the longest route. You also compare the opening dates and include figures for all six cities, so the response covers the task’s key categories. However, some details are unclear or inaccurate: the overview says Tokyo has the “higgest population of passengers,” and the passenger figures for Tokyo and Paris are misreported in words. The table gives Tokyo 1,927 million and Paris 1,191 million; the response gives Tokyo 1,127 million. The overview could also compare passenger use more fully, especially Tokyo’s high ridership despite a shorter route than London’s. More precise reporting and a clearer overview would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details about London, Los Angeles, and the other four cities. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, the final paragraph is overloaded: it combines opening dates, route lengths, and passenger totals in one long sentence, making comparisons difficult to follow. The phrase “Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC and Kyoto” is followed by a list of four route lengths and then five passenger figures, so the relationship between the data is unclear. Use shorter sentences and group cities by a meaningful feature, such as older versus newer systems or highest versus lowest ridership. Clearer links between each comparison would improve progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “route,” “opened,” “passengers per year,” and “respectively,” and the reader can generally understand the intended comparisons. However, several word choices and spelling errors reduce precision. “Most elongated route” is an unnatural way to describe the longest system, while “distant” does not mean route length in this context. “Population of passengers” is also an imprecise collocation, and “anual,” “higgest,” and “hundered” are misspelled. Aim for accurate, conventional data-reporting language and check spelling carefully. Using terms such as “annual ridership,” “route length,” and “recorded” would make the description more natural and concise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, and the main message is usually understandable. However, the longer structures are not consistently controlled. For example, “Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC and Kyoto, were all opened…” has an unnecessary comma between the subject and verb, and the following sentence combines several lists without a clear grammatical structure. In “London is the only country that had her railway system opened,” the relative clause and pronoun construction are awkward; the subject is a city, not a country. There are also issues with articles and number agreement in phrases such as “an anual passengers.” Practise building accurate comparison sentences, and separate complex data into shorter, complete clauses.

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