Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-17

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 4.5)

The table shows the data of Underground railway systems in various cities including London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and los angeles representing Date Opened, Kilometers of route and passenger per year but in millions.

Discussing London, it opened in 1863, covered the route of 394km and 775million passengers travelled per year.

in 1900 opened in Paris covered 199km with the amount of passengers of 775millions.

155km covered in Tokyo opening in 1927 and total of 1927million people travelled per year.

144million passengers travelled in Washington DC as opened in 1976 and covered 126km.

the numbers of kilometer are comparatively low in Kyoto as it only travelled 11km of route covering the amount of 45million passengers per year inaugurated in 1981.

in the last, 28km were covered by 50million passengers per year in Los Angeles as opened in 2001.

so relatively comparing the numbers, this system mostly used in Tokyo with an enormous numbers of passsengers of 1927.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You report figures for all six cities, including opening dates, route lengths and annual passenger totals, and you identify Tokyo as having the highest usage. However, the response mainly lists individual entries rather than selecting and comparing the main features, so the task is addressed only minimally. There is also a significant factual error: Paris is given as carrying 775 million passengers, whereas the table shows 1,191 million. The overview is limited to the final statement about Tokyo and does not summarise other key contrasts, such as London having the longest route and oldest system, or Kyoto having the shortest route and lowest passenger total. Grouping the figures around these comparisons would make the summary more relevant and complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The information follows a generally understandable city-by-city order, and phrases such as “Discussing London” and “in the last” signal movement between entries. However, the response has no clear paragraph structure or overall progression from an overview to supporting details. Most sentences repeat the same listing pattern, while the final “so relatively comparing” sentence adds a conclusion without developing the comparisons. Some links are awkward or unclear, including “in 1900 opened in Paris” and “as opened in 2001.” Organise the response into an introductory overview and a body that groups the largest and smallest systems or compares passenger use with route length. This would give the information a clearer progression and make connections between figures easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough basic topic vocabulary to communicate the table’s subject, including “route,” “passengers,” “covered,” and “opened.” However, the range is limited and several expressions are repetitive or imprecise. “The amount of passengers” is an unnatural collocation, and “the numbers of kilometer are comparatively low” is awkward and does not clearly describe the route length. “Enormous numbers” is also an imprecise way to report a specific figure. There are spelling and capitalisation slips, notably “los angeles” and “passsengers.” Use concise, accurate terms such as “annual ridership,” “route length,” and “recorded,” and vary the language used to compare the cities. These changes would make the description more precise and appropriate for an academic summary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts some variation in sentence structure, for example by placing dates and figures at the start of sentences, but most sentences rely on simple listing patterns and several are incomplete or awkwardly formed. “in 1900 opened in Paris covered 199km” lacks a clear subject, while “155km covered in Tokyo opening in 1927” has an unclear verb structure. There are also errors in articles, agreement and punctuation, such as “an enormous numbers” and the lower-case sentence beginnings after full stops. These problems sometimes make the relationships between dates, routes and passenger totals harder to understand. Practise writing complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check singular/plural agreement and sentence punctuation before submitting.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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