Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-21

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 provided table illustrates the data regarding the underground railway laws in six particular towns such as London,Paris,Tokyo,Washington DC,Kyoto and Los Angeles between 1863 and 2001.

Overall it is evident that,Tokyo and London showed the highest passangers per year and route messarment respectively .While,the lowest passangers and kilometers of route experienced Kyoto.

Looking at the details,London's railway opened in 1863 and the kilometers of route was 394 which was the highest kilometers.Whereas,only 11 kilometers was the Koyoto's route additionally,it satrted in 1981.Meanwhile,PAris,Tokyo and Washington DC depicted similar kilometers of route between 126 and 199 klometers.

Turning to the passangers amount (per year),the large number of passangers were at Tokyo's railway at their beginning day.In addition,exact 1191 millions of passangers were at Paris railway which was the second highest amount.In contrast,Kyoto and LOs Angeles experienced the least number of passangers with 45 and 50 millions respectively.Meanwhile,LOndon and Washington DC's passangers rate wwere 775 and 144 in 1863 and 1976.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main contrasts: London has the longest route, Tokyo carries the most passengers, and Kyoto has the smallest route and passenger figures. The overview is relevant, and the body includes several accurate comparisons, such as Paris’s 1,191 million passengers and Kyoto’s 11-kilometre network. However, coverage is uneven and some details are unclear or inaccurate. The statement that Tokyo’s passenger figure was recorded “at their beginning day” is unsupported; the table gives annual totals, not figures from opening day. Washington DC’s 144 million passengers are also not clearly compared with the other cities. Report the data directly and ensure the overview captures both the oldest/largest network and the busiest system.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs that discuss route length and passenger numbers. This gives the reader a generally coherent route through the information. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Looking at the details,” and “Turning to” help signal the stages of the report. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear, particularly “Whereas” after a full sentence and “Meanwhile” where the comparison is not fully explained. The final sentence combines passenger figures with opening dates, which makes the relationship between the information difficult to follow. Grouping cities more consistently and using clearer comparison links would strengthen progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “route,” “opened,” “highest,” and “passengers,” and you attempt to vary your wording with phrases such as “Looking at the details.” However, word choice and spelling errors are noticeable and sometimes make the meaning less clear. “Underground railway laws” is not an appropriate description of the systems, while “route messarment” and “passangers” are misspelled. Phrases such as “the large number of passengers were at Tokyo’s railway” are also unnatural. Aim for precise, conventional data-reporting language and check spelling carefully; accurate terms such as “network length,” “annual passenger numbers,” and “recorded” would make the comparisons clearer.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “which” and “while.” However, control is inconsistent, and several sentence patterns are faulty. For example, “the large number of passengers were” has subject–verb disagreement, and “the kilometers of route was 394” does not use a suitable plural subject with the verb. The sentence beginning “Whereas” is a fragment, and punctuation around introductory phrases and city lists is often missing. Some sentences also combine ideas without a clear grammatical relationship. Practise building accurate comparison sentences, checking subject–verb agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries before adding more complex structures.

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