Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-23

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 presents the information about underground railway systems which are in six different cities.

Overall, Tokyo involved higest passengers per year among all other cities while Kyoto has the least amount of passengers yearly. The first underground railway systems's date that opened was Londons' and last remained Los Angeles.

London was the first one to be opened in 1863 by 394 kilometers of route along with 775 million passengers per year. After that was Paris, who's underground railway systems started in the year of 1900 at 199 kilometers carrying 1191 million passengers each year.

In addition, in 1927, Tokyo to place by 155 kilometers of route including 1927 million passengers yearly. Toyko was the city which contained highest number of individuals than all.

Furthermore, Washington DC's number of passengers were fewer than other cities. It started in 1976 with 126 kilometers having 144 million passengers each year. Kyoto whereas had even more less passengers than Washington DC. It opened in 1981 and had 11 kilometers of route with only 45 million passengers while Los Angeles was also involved less passengers than other cities but it was 5 million higher than Kyoto. The open date for Los Ageles was 2001 carrying 28 kilometers of route persuing 50 million passenger per year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover all six cities and report the opening dates, route lengths and annual passenger figures, with a useful overview identifying Tokyo as the busiest and Kyoto as the least used. You also make relevant comparisons, such as Los Angeles carrying five million more passengers than Kyoto. However, some key comparisons are not fully developed: London has by far the longest route, while Tokyo has the highest passenger total despite a much shorter network, and this contrast would strengthen the overview. A few descriptions are unclear, particularly “The first underground railway systems's date that opened was Londons'.” State the main trends directly and accurately, then support them with selected figures rather than describing each city in sequence alone.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview and two paragraphs grouping the cities. The chronological sequence from London to Tokyo and then the later-opening systems gives the reader a basic progression, and linking phrases such as “After that,” “In addition” and “Furthermore” help signal movement between points. However, some connections are mechanical or confusing. “Kyoto whereas had even more less passengers” does not clearly express the comparison, and “while Los Angeles was also involved less passengers” makes the relationship difficult to follow. Use comparison-focused links such as “By contrast” and “whereas,” and make sure each paragraph groups information by a clear principle, such as older/larger systems versus newer/smaller ones.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing the table, including “route,” “passengers per year,” “carrying” and “opened,” so the main information is generally understandable. There is also some attempt to vary wording, for example “contained highest number of individuals.” However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for this task: “involved” is used repeatedly for passenger totals, “to place” does not convey Tokyo’s position, and “even more less” is not a correct comparative expression. Spelling errors such as “higest,” “Toyko” and “Los Ageles” also reduce accuracy. Aim for precise, conventional data-reporting language and check spellings of city names and key terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including clauses linked with “while” and “which,” and the reader can usually identify the figures being reported. However, some sentence structures are faulty, and errors in agreement, articles and possessives recur. For example, “Tokyo to place” lacks a correctly formed verb, while “Washington DC's number of passengers were” has a singular subject paired with a plural verb. The opening overview sentence, “The first underground railway systems's date that opened was Londons',” is also difficult to parse. Practise building clear subject–verb sentences, such as “London’s system opened in 1863,” and check agreement and punctuation when joining comparisons.

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