Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-27

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 demonstrates that data about the underground railway system in six town.

Overall, London has the oldest city and route was the highest lenth, whereas Tokyo accounted for the largest passengers. In contrast, Kyoto was the small city and it has small route and fewer passengers.

Loking at the table, the number of passengers in Tokyo city was 1927 millions and route total lenth was 155 kilometers in 1927. Following this paris, was 1191 million passengers, whereas gross route was 199 kilometers 1900. However, the oldest city in London accounted for 775 millions and steet was 394 kilometers in 1863; nonetheless, Washington DC of passengers per year was 144 million and route 126 kilometers in 1976.

Additionally, Los angles city was only 50 millions as well as route was 28 kilometers in 2001. Finally, the urbal area of Kyoto has 45 million and just 11 kilometers route in 1981.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main contrasts: London is the oldest system and has the longest route, while Tokyo carries the most passengers; Kyoto is among the smallest systems. You also report figures for all six cities, so the response addresses the task and includes relevant comparisons. However, some details are unclear or inaccurately expressed. For example, “London has the oldest city” confuses the city with its railway system, and “the small city” does not accurately describe Kyoto’s data—the table shows its system is the shortest and least used. The overview could also compare the highest and lowest passenger figures more precisely. To strengthen the summary, select the key extremes and describe them clearly before supporting them with accurate figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and a body that reports the figures. The sequence from Tokyo and Paris to the other cities is generally understandable, and linking expressions such as “In contrast,” “Additionally,” and “Finally” help signal movement between points. However, progression is weakened by awkward or inaccurate links, including “Following this paris” and “However” before the Washington figures, where no clear contrast is established. Several sentences combine multiple cities and statistics, making relationships between opening dates, route lengths, and passenger totals difficult to follow. Use one clear comparison per sentence and group the cities logically—for example, the older, larger systems together and the newer, smaller ones together.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “underground railway system,” “route,” “passengers per year,” and “accounted for,” which helps convey the table’s subject. However, the range and control of word choice are limited, and several errors make the meaning less clear. “Oldest city” should refer to the railway system, while “highest lenth” and “gross route” are not natural ways to describe route length. There are also noticeable spelling errors, such as “Loking,” “paris,” “steet,” “Los angles,” and “urbal.” Aim for precise, repeated terminology rather than inventing alternatives: use “route length” and “annual passenger numbers” consistently, and check city names and common words carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences with contrast clauses, as in “Overall, London has the oldest city and route was the highest…” and “In contrast, Kyoto…”. This shows some effort to vary sentence structure. However, errors in sentence construction and grammatical relationships are frequent enough to make several statements difficult to interpret. For example, “the number of passengers in Tokyo city was 1927 millions and route total lenth was 155 kilometers in 1927” lacks clear grammatical links between the figures, while “Kyoto has 45 million and just 11 kilometers route” omits the noun being counted and uses an incomplete structure. Practise building complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and use consistent past-tense forms when describing the systems’ opening dates.

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