Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-22

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 table provides data about the railway systems below ground in six urban areas.

Overall, the oldest underground railway system was London, followed by Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and the most recent Los Angeles respectively. London railway system is leading with the longest route while Kyoto has the shortest route out of all. Tokyo railway system comes in here with highest population amond passengers travelling per year, while Kyoto is the least popular among people.

The oldest underground railway system is London opened in 1863 followed by Paris in 1900 and Tokyo in 1927. London has the longest route of 394 Kilometers this is because it is the oldest of all and was built in the 19th century.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify several key comparisons in the overview: London is the oldest and has the longest route, while Kyoto has the shortest route and Tokyo carries the most passengers. However, the report covers only part of the table. It gives no figures for passenger numbers and omits the details for Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles, so the comparisons are not sufficiently complete or developed. The explanation that London’s route is longest “because it is the oldest” is not supported by the table, which shows a relationship but does not establish a cause. The response also falls short of the required 150 words. To strengthen the report, include the main figures for all six cities and compare the extremes in each category without adding unsupported explanations.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic structure, with an introductory sentence, an overview and a detail paragraph. The overview usefully groups the cities by opening date and identifies the route and passenger extremes. However, the report stops after discussing the three oldest systems, so there is no clear progression through the remaining data or a concluding comparison. Linking is limited, and the sequence “followed by Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and the most recent Los Angeles” is awkwardly joined to “respectively.” Organise the details into clear comparisons—for example, older versus newer systems, then route length and passenger use—and use transitions to show how each point relates to the overview.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing the table, including “oldest,” “longest route,” “shortest route” and “per year.” These terms make the main comparisons understandable. However, the range is limited, and some expressions are imprecise or unnatural for a data report: “railway systems below ground,” “leading with the longest route,” and “highest population among passengers” do not describe the figures accurately or idiomatically. There is also a spelling error in “amond.” Aim for concise, precise reporting language and vary expressions such as “recorded,” “served” and “ranked.” For example, describe Tokyo as having the highest annual passenger total, rather than referring to a passenger “population.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response uses mostly simple sentence patterns, with a few attempts to combine information, and the main meaning is generally clear. However, sentence control is uneven. “The oldest underground railway system is London opened in 1863” lacks a grammatical link between the system and its opening date; use “London’s system, which opened in 1863, is the oldest.” The sentence beginning “London has the longest route of 394 Kilometers this is because…” joins two independent clauses without appropriate punctuation or a conjunction. There are also article and possessive problems in “London railway system” and “Tokyo railway system.” Practise accurate relative clauses and sentence boundaries, and check articles and possessives when describing each city’s system.

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