Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-20

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 6.0)

The given data gives information about the underground railway system in six cities also brief about their opening date, kilometers of route and annual passengers.

Overall, London has the oldest and the biggest subway route. Tokyo welcomed maxmium passengers while Kyoto has the smallest underground railway route. Los Angeles has the most recent subway system.

In general, London inaugurated their subway in 1863, has the longest route of about 394 km and approximately 775 million people travel annually. Paris and Tokyo have opened their underground railway in 1900 and 1927 with the travelling route 199 km and 155 km respectively but Tokyo entertained most of the passesngers 1927 million annually as compared to the Paris.

Washington DC and Kyoto have openend their underground railways system in 1976 and 1981, Washington has bigger route of 126km and annually 144 million people travelled by this subway meanwhile, Kyoto has 11 km of route and approximately 45 million people used this service. Lastly, Los Angeles has opened their subway in 2001 which was spread on 28 km and about 50 million passengers used this service in a year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You identify the main patterns clearly: London is the oldest system and has the longest route, Tokyo carries the most passengers, and Los Angeles is the newest. You also include figures for all six cities and make relevant comparisons, such as contrasting the route lengths and passenger totals of Paris and Tokyo. This gives the summary a clear overview and covers the table’s key information. To strengthen the response further, make comparisons across the whole dataset more explicit—for example, note that Tokyo’s passenger total is highest despite its route being much shorter than London’s, and that the two newest systems have the lowest usage. Some descriptions, such as “biggest subway route,” could also be more precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is organised into an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs that group the cities, so the reader can follow the information. The progression from the older systems to the newer ones is generally logical, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “In general,” and “Lastly” help signal movement between points. This is a coherent arrangement, with some flexibility in how information is grouped. However, “Overall” and “In general” perform nearly the same function, and the final paragraph combines several comparisons in a long sentence joined by “meanwhile.” Use clearer sentence boundaries and more precise links between contrasting figures. This would make the cohesion less mechanical and the progression easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing the table, including “annual passengers,” “route,” “inaugurated,” and “approximately.” These choices show an attempt to vary wording rather than repeat the table headings throughout. However, several expressions are inaccurate or unnatural, including “the given data gives,” “welcomed maximum passengers,” and “entertained most of the passengers.” Spelling errors such as “maxmium,” “passesngers,” and “openend” also reduce accuracy. Choose standard collocations for data description, such as “carried the most passengers” or “had the highest annual passenger total,” and check spelling carefully. More precise vocabulary would help you describe the figures without relying on awkward or informal phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and complex sentences, including a contrast between Paris and Tokyo and a longer sentence comparing Washington DC with Kyoto. The main information is usually understandable, but errors in sentence construction and verb forms recur. For example, “Paris and Tokyo have opened their underground railway” uses an awkward tense for historical opening dates, while “Washington DC and Kyoto have openend” has an incorrect verb form. In “London … has the longest route,” the subject shifts from the city to the system without a clear grammatical structure. Some sentences also run together, particularly the final comparison. Practise forming concise past-tense statements and separating related comparisons into well-punctuated sentences.

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.