Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The tabel provides data of the underground Railway system data in six cities of different countries including London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles. The table is demonstrated the date of opening, kilometer of route and passengers per year in millions at each station.

The oldest station among all is London underground railway station with longest route among all. The Los Angeles station is newest in the list. Kyoto owns the minimum length of route while tokoyo managed more passengers per year.

The London railway station was built in 1863 with the route length of 394 kilometers and having capacity to manage 775 millions passengers per year. The Paris is second in the list which was inaugurated in 1900 for 155 kilometer route and 1191 millions passengers per years. The station which accomodate 1927 millions passenger per year and having a route of 126 kilometer is tokyo station which started its function on 1927.

The kyoto has 11 kilomater route length which is shortest among all and accomodate only 45 millions passengers per year. The Washington DC station manage 144 millions passengers per years which is slightly heigher than kyoto. Los angeles is second least station in the list.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the table’s subject and report several important comparisons: London is the oldest system and has the longest route, while Kyoto has the shortest route, and Tokyo carries the most passengers. However, the summary is only partly complete and includes significant inaccuracies. Paris is described as having a 155-kilometre route, but the table gives 199 kilometres; 155 belongs to Tokyo. You also say Tokyo opened in 1927, although the table lists that year for its opening, then give it 126 kilometres, which is Washington DC’s figure. Los Angeles is called the second-smallest system without reporting its route or passenger total. Select the key extremes accurately and compare all six systems more consistently.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details about individual systems. This gives the reader some sense of organisation, and comparisons such as London being oldest and Kyoto having the shortest route help establish a direction. However, the progression is uneven: the middle paragraph mixes Paris and Tokyo figures, while the final paragraph mentions Washington and Los Angeles without giving a complete comparison. Linking phrases such as “The oldest” and “second in the list” are used, but the ranking is not always clear or accurate. Grouping the systems by notable features—for example, older and larger networks versus newer and smaller ones—and using clearer references would make the information easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing a table, including “route length,” “passengers per year,” “oldest,” and “shortest.” These terms help communicate the main subject, and there is some attempt to vary wording with “inaugurated” and “manage.” However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for this task, such as “station” for an entire railway system and “capacity to manage” for annual passenger numbers. Spelling errors, including “tabel,” “tokoyo,” “accomodate,” and “kilomater,” are noticeable and reduce precision. Use standard data-reporting collocations such as “the system opened,” “the network extends,” and “carries X million passengers annually,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and longer sentence forms, but control is inconsistent, and errors occur frequently enough to make some statements difficult to interpret. For example, “The table is demonstrated” has an incorrect verb construction, while “The Paris is second in the list which was inaugurated…” creates an unclear sentence structure. There are also problems with articles, agreement, and plural forms in phrases such as “775 millions passengers” and “The oldest station… is London underground railway station.” Tense and sentence construction are not consistently controlled when describing opening dates and current figures. Practise forming clear comparison sentences with accurate subject–verb agreement and use “million” after numbers, as in “775 million passengers.”

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