Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-19

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 given table shows the information about the underground railway system in six different cities of world. The given table shows information of date opened, Kilometers of route and passengers per year in million.

First we talk about the London, In London the opened date of underground railway is 1863 and kilometers of route is 394km also this is first time underground railway in london so passengers per year is 775 million.

In 1900 railway delvoped in paris which has 199km of route and it is the 2nd country with large amount of passengers 1191 million. Railway developed in Tokyo in 1921 which has 155km of route and it has highest passengers per year which is 1927 million.

Now we talk about Washington DC the opened date of railway is 1976 which covers 126km of route and it has passengers per year is 144 million. And now other two countries which Kyoto and Los Angeles date of opened is 1981 and 2001. Kyoto railway cover 11km of route and have low numbers of passengers per year which is 45 million and Los Angeles cover 28km of route and have 50 million passengers per year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You report figures for all six cities and include relevant details such as London’s 394-kilometre route and Tokyo’s 1,927 million annual passengers. However, the response mainly lists cities one by one rather than selecting and highlighting the key overall features. It does not clearly state that London has the oldest and longest system, Tokyo has the highest passenger use, or that Kyoto has the shortest route and lowest passenger total. There is also a factual error: Tokyo’s opening year is given as 1921, whereas the table shows 1927. The comparison that Paris has the second-highest passenger figure is useful, but the overview and comparisons are too limited for a fuller response to the task.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The information is presented in a generally understandable order, moving from London and Paris/Tokyo to Washington DC and the two newer systems. Paragraphing is limited, however, and the response lacks a clear overall progression from an overview to grouped supporting details. Repeated transitions such as “First we talk about” and “Now we talk about” make the organisation sound mechanical, while repeated sentence openings with “In…” or “railway” add to the list-like effect. Some links between details are also awkward, particularly “And now other two countries which Kyoto and Los Angeles.” Grouping the cities by notable features—for example, oldest/longest, highest use, and smallest/newest—and using clearer comparisons would make the progression easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate the main data, including “underground railway,” “kilometers of route,” and “passengers per year.” However, the range is limited and several phrases are repetitive or imprecise, such as “the opened date,” “railway developed,” and “low numbers of passengers.” Spelling errors in “delvoped” and inconsistent capitalisation of city names also reduce accuracy. Some expressions, including “first time underground railway in london,” are difficult to interpret naturally. Aim for more precise reporting language and vary the verbs used to describe the figures; this would make the comparisons clearer and more appropriate to an academic summary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Most of the response uses simple sentence patterns, and the reader can generally understand the figures being reported. However, attempts to connect several ideas often produce faulty structures. For example, “In London the opened date … is 1863 and kilometers … is 394km also this is first time…” joins multiple clauses without effective punctuation, while “Kyoto railway cover 11km … and have low numbers” has problems with subject–verb agreement. Articles and sentence boundaries are also inconsistent, as in “the opened date of railway” and the long sentence beginning “And now other two countries.” Use complete, clearly punctuated sentences, check singular/plural agreement, and practise combining clauses with accurate conjunctions. This would improve control while retaining the useful factual detail.

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