Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-16

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)

Table compares the data of underground railway station in six cities.

The first underground railway station was built in London. But the highest number of passengers has traveled through Tokyo railway station compared to other cities. According to table most recently railway station was built in Los Angeles in 2001. Only 50 million passengers traveled through it.

The London railway station has longest route 394 kilometers while Kyoto has the smallest route which is comprises over just 11 kilometers and number Of passengers also declined here. Only 45 million of people traveled through it. After Tokyo the paris railway station has longest route which is around 1191 kilometers and 199 million of individuals have travelled through it. It was constructed in 1900. London's railway station route is around 394 kilometers and 775 million people have travelled through it. Los Angeles figure is relatively higher than kyoto in both passengers and kilometers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify several relevant headline features: London’s system opened earliest and has the longest route, Tokyo carries the most passengers, and Los Angeles is the newest system. However, the report does not accurately cover the table consistently. Most importantly, you state that Paris has a route of “around 1191 kilometers”; 1,191 is its annual passenger figure, while its route is 199 km. The response also omits Washington DC and gives little direct comparison across all six cities. Some figures are reported, but there is no clear overview bringing together the main contrasts in age, route length and passenger use. To improve, check each figure against its column and organise the key comparisons before adding details.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic sequence, moving from the oldest and newest systems to route lengths and passenger numbers, and phrases such as “After Tokyo” and “while” attempt to connect comparisons. However, the progression is not consistently clear: the discussion shifts between cities and measures, then returns to London, and the final sentence adds a comparison without explaining the figures. There are no distinct overview and detail paragraphs, which makes the main features harder to identify. Some linking is also awkward or unclear, such as “After Tokyo the paris railway station has longest route,” especially because the comparison confuses passenger totals with route length. Grouping the largest systems and busiest systems separately would create a clearer progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the general subject, including “route,” “passengers,” “constructed,” and “compared to.” There is also some variation in how you refer to passenger totals, such as “number of passengers” and “million of people.” However, several choices are imprecise or unnatural for describing a table: “railway station” refers to a station rather than a whole underground system, and “number of passengers also declined here” suggests a change over time that the table does not show. Capitalisation is inconsistent in “paris” and “kyoto,” and “individuals” is unnecessarily formal in this context. Use precise terms such as “system,” “annual ridership,” and “recorded” to describe the data accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple sentences and longer comparisons, and most of the intended meaning can be understood. However, grammatical control is uneven, particularly in articles, agreement, and sentence construction. For example, “Table compares the data” needs an article, while “which is comprises” combines two incompatible verb forms. In “The London railway station has longest route,” the superlative needs an article, and “number of passengers also declined” does not fit the table’s static data. Capital letters and punctuation are also inconsistent, as in “number Of passengers.” Practise building accurate comparison sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check articles and verb forms when editing.

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