Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-18

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)

In this table inlustrate the six cities that has underground raily systems and shows he data opened, kilometers of route and passengers per year.

overall, The london city opened data is 1863 and its kilometer of route is 394 and the passenger per year is 775 million. The paris city opened date is 1900 and its kilometers of route is 199 and the passeneger per year travel 1191. And the kyoto city date opened is 1981 and it the very lowest kilometers of route that is 11km. And its passenger per year is 45.

The tokyo city opened date is 1927 and kilometers of route is 155 and it is the larger number of passenger is 1927. The Washington Dc opened date is 1976 and its kilometers route is 126 and passenger per year is 144. The los Angeles is the newuest underground railway system that opened in 2001. And its kilometer route is 28. And passengers per year is 50.

In comaprison, the london and los Angeles has lots of chnages. The london railway system ki very old and the los angeles railyway this is new.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You report several relevant figures, including London’s 394 km route, Tokyo’s 1,927 million passengers and Kyoto’s 11 km route, and you identify London as the oldest system and Los Angeles as the newest. However, the overview is not clear or sufficiently comparative: the opening mainly repeats what the table contains, and the final comparison says London and Los Angeles have “lots of changes” without explaining the contrast. Paris has the highest passenger figure, but this key feature is not identified, and the route-length and passenger extremes are not brought together. To strengthen the response, select the most important overall patterns first, then compare the cities accurately rather than listing figures one by one.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response is divided into paragraphs, and phrases such as “overall” and “In comparison” show an attempt to guide the reader. The city-by-city details are generally understandable, but the organisation is mostly a sequence of separate facts rather than a clear progression from an overview to grouped comparisons. The final paragraph does not develop its comparison, while “And” repeatedly begins sentences and makes the linking feel mechanical. Some references, such as “it” in the Kyoto sentence, are not fully clear. Organise the information around meaningful contrasts—for example, older and longer systems versus newer and shorter ones—and use linking phrases to show how the figures relate.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use basic task-related vocabulary such as “opened,” “kilometers of route” and “passengers per year,” so the main subject is usually recognisable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or spellings make the report less clear or natural. “Opened data” appears to mean opening date, and “lots of changes” does not express the intended comparison between the systems. There are also repeated misspellings, including “inlustrate,” “raily” and “comaprison.” Use precise terms for the table’s categories and comparisons, and check spelling carefully. A wider set of accurate expressions for describing size, age and passenger use would make the report more effective.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

Most sentences use simple patterns, and the reader can often identify the city and its figures. However, errors are frequent and sometimes make relationships between ideas unclear. The opening has faulty agreement and structure: “the six cities that has … and shows he data” should be recast as a complete sentence with a plural verb. Articles and sentence construction are also problematic in phrases such as “The paris city” and “and it the very lowest kilometers.” Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent, including lowercase “overall” after a full stop and unnecessary capitals within sentences. Practise accurate simple sentences first, then combine related facts with controlled clauses and consistent punctuation.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.