Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · 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 4.0)

The given chart illustrate underground railway station by presenting data of city kilometres.

Overall it is clear that its show the the data of pessenger and cities.Aditionally tokyo showed a far more noticeable compared to ther cities.A contrasting patteren can be seen in kyoto.

At the beginning of the period a stood at tokyo which open in 19 century it kilometre is 155 and passengers per year was 1927.

in contrast tokyo is more notcable ra

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response3.0
Coherence and Cohesion3.0
Lexical Resource4.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall4.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

You identify the topic as underground railway systems and include one relevant comparison by noting Tokyo’s passenger figure. However, the report does not adequately summarise the table: it omits most cities and gives no overview of the main contrasts, such as London having the longest route and Tokyo carrying the most passengers. The statement that Kyoto shows a contrasting pattern is not explained, and the final sentence is incomplete. The details about Tokyo are also inaccurate: it opened in 1927, not in the 19th century. The response is substantially below the required minimum length, which leaves the task only minimally addressed. To improve, report the key extremes and compare several cities using accurate figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 3.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the response with an opening, an overview beginning “Overall,” and a detail paragraph. You also use linking expressions such as “Additionally” and “In contrast.” However, the progression is difficult to follow because the overview is unclear, the comparison introduced with “In contrast” is not completed, and the final fragment (“tokyo is more notcable ra”) leaves the reader without a finished point. The paragraphing does not yet support a clear summary of the table, and references such as “it” do not make clear whether you mean the railway or the city. Organise the report into a clear overview and grouped comparisons, and ensure each sentence develops a complete idea.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You attempt some task-related vocabulary, including “underground railway,” “passengers per year,” “kilometre,” and “contrasting pattern.” These choices show awareness of the subject, but the range is limited and several expressions are inaccurate or unclear, which makes parts of the report difficult to understand. For example, “the chart illustrate underground railway station by presenting data of city kilometres” does not clearly describe what the table shows, while “a far more noticeable” lacks a clear noun or comparison. There are also spelling errors, including “pessenger,” “notcable,” and “pateren.” Use precise terms such as “route length,” “annual passenger numbers,” and “the highest figure,” and check spelling before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response includes attempts at both simple statements and more developed sentences, such as “Overall it is clear that…” and “A contrasting pattern can be seen in Kyoto.” However, grammatical control is inconsistent. The opening has subject–verb agreement and article problems (“The given chart illustrate”), and the overview contains repeated “the” and an unclear pronoun in “its show.” The Tokyo sentence also has faulty structure: “which open in 19 century it kilometre is 155” combines several ideas without correct verb forms or sentence boundaries. The final line is incomplete. Practise writing complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, accurate articles and tense, and use full stops to separate details.

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