Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

the table provide the information of the underground railwat systems of six different cities that were London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles.

London had the oldest and longest underground railway passage while passengers per year travel through this were 775 million, third in among other cities. Tokyo built his underground railway in 1927 and had largest passengers rate, that wes 1927 million. Paris created underground railway track in 1900, at that time it was the second largest underground track, passengers turnover was the second largest which was 1191per year.

In 1981, Kyoto built its undeground route, which is thwe smallest among others that was only 11 kilometers and also had lowest passengers turnover, at 45million. Los Angeles had built the latest underground railway syetem in 2001and the route length was 28 kilometers. passengers that used this passage yearly were 50 million in numbers. Washington DC was fourth in building underground passage with length of 126 kilometers and fouth one in passenger service.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify several important extremes, including London as the oldest and longest system, Tokyo as having the highest annual passenger figure, and Kyoto as the smallest and least used. However, the summary does not give a clear, accurate overview of the main patterns across all six cities. Some comparisons are incomplete or unclear: Washington DC is called “fourth” in opening order, but its passenger figure of 144 million is not reported, and the description of Paris as having the “second largest underground track” is not clearly tied to its route length of 199 km. Report the key figures consistently and compare the systems by age, route length and usage, rather than leaving some data implicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response follows a broadly understandable order, moving from London, Tokyo and Paris to the newer systems, and it uses time references such as “In 1981” to introduce information. However, it is presented as one continuous block, with no distinct overview or clear grouping of the data. The sequence also shifts between opening dates, route lengths and passenger numbers, so the reader has to work to identify the comparisons. Some linking phrases, such as “while” in the London sentence, do not clearly show the relationship between the facts. Use an overview followed by two organised comparison paragraphs, and connect related figures directly.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “route,” “passengers per year” and “length,” and attempt to describe rankings with “oldest,” “longest” and “smallest.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the meaning difficult to follow. For example, “underground railway passage” is not a natural term for a railway system, and “passengers turnover” does not clearly express annual passenger numbers. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “railwat,” “undeground” and “syetem.” Choose precise terms from the table and check spelling carefully; avoid repeating “built” and “passage” when describing systems and routes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple sentences and longer clauses, for example, “In 1981, Kyoto built its underground route, which is the smallest among others.” However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences awkward or unclear. The opening, “the table provide,” has subject–verb disagreement, while “London had the oldest and longest … while passengers per year travel through this were 775 million” has an unclear clause structure and inconsistent tense. Articles and sentence boundaries also need attention, as in “Paris created underground railway track.” Practise accurate present-tense reporting structures, such as “The table shows…” and “The system carried…,” and punctuate each comparison as a complete sentence.

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