Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-28

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 4.5)

The take gives information about the underground railway systems in six cities. Overall Tokyo underground railway system established in 1927 and most passengers per year in take. Kyoto and Los Angles are common city in takes. London underground railway system established in 1863 and kilometers of route 394 and passengers per year 775. Paris underground railway opened in 1900 and kilometers of route 199 and passengers per year 1191 maximum than London passengers.Tokyo underground railway system opened in 1927 and 155 kilometres of route and 1927 passengers per year most highest than all of cities .Washington DC opened underground railway system in 1976 after established of Tokyo,Paris and London while killometres of rote 126 and passengers per year 144 are most common take. Kyoto underground railway system established after Washington DC in 1981 kilometres of route 11 and passengers per year 45 are most common take.Los Angles Underground railway system are opened after Kyoto in 2001 Kilometres of route 28 and pessengers per year 50 are most common take.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You include information about all six cities and report several key figures, including London’s 394-kilometre network, Tokyo’s 1,927 million annual passengers and Kyoto’s 11-kilometre route. However, the overview is incomplete: it identifies Tokyo as having the most passengers, but does not clearly summarise the main contrasts across the table. Some comparisons are inaccurate or unclear, such as calling Kyoto and Los Angeles “common” cities and describing Washington’s figures as “most common.” The response also does not identify London as the oldest and largest system, or Kyoto as the smallest by route length. To improve, select the most important extremes and comparisons, and report them accurately rather than listing each city in sequence.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The response follows a broadly understandable order, moving from an opening statement to an overview and then through the cities. Repeated references to each city also make it possible to follow which figures are being discussed. However, the ideas are not arranged into clear, purposeful paragraphs, and the overview does not effectively guide the reader through the comparisons. Several sentences are joined mainly with “and,” while “while” and “after” do not always express the intended relationship clearly. The repeated city-by-city pattern also makes the report feel like a list rather than a synthesis of the data. Grouping the oldest and largest systems together, then comparing the smaller, newer ones, would create clearer progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary such as “underground railway system,” “kilometres of route” and “passengers per year,” which helps communicate the subject. However, the range is limited and several repeated or inaccurate expressions make the data difficult to interpret. “Most common take” does not convey a meaningful comparison, and “maximum than London passengers” is not a natural way to compare passenger totals. There are also spelling errors, including “Angeles,” “killometres,” “rote” and “pessengers.” Use precise comparison language such as “the highest annual passenger figure,” “the shortest route” and “compared with,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to communicate several facts in complete sentences, and the repeated past-tense forms “opened” and “established” show some control of basic reporting structures. However, sentence patterns are limited, and errors in sentence construction and agreement occur frequently enough to make some relationships unclear. For example, “Overall Tokyo underground railway system established in 1927 and most passengers per year in take” lacks a clear main clause, while “Los Angles Underground railway system are opened” has an incorrect verb form and agreement. Articles are also often missing, as in “London underground railway system.” Practise building complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and use accurate comparative structures to connect the figures.

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