Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

By summarizing the details given in the question, I see the oldest railway system is in Londan. Londay railways open in 1863 which make its the oldest in all 6 cities and and it cover almost 394 kilmeters of routes which is also a big number comparing to other cities. Paris in other hand establish in 1900s with tolar cover are of 199 km, therefor Tokyo opend in 1927, also there with a massive number of area coverd by 155 km. rest all city opened there railways in mid 70s ,mid 80s or early 2000s.

The comparision of growth till now Paris and Tokyo genarate a massive growth compared to London, with a number of individuals prefer to traver with railways Paris have 1191 millions per year, where Tokyo is with 1927 millions per year, therefor London with 775 millions per year . Being the oldest railway network with the more numbers of kilometers covered in all 6 cities London is lacking somewhere to convert more passengers. I dont have that much idea in this but the thing i know is maybe London is laking in marketing their railways where Parin and Tokyo are doing good.

Rest of the 3 cities are still new to compair with other cities they are still growing fast even though there passengers covertion rate is still low.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important comparisons: London is the oldest system and has the longest route, while Tokyo carries the most passengers; you also include figures for Paris and Tokyo. However, the overview is incomplete and some details are inaccurate or vague. For example, the opening says London’s route is “a big number” without comparing it precisely, and “rest all city” groups the other systems without reporting their opening dates or route lengths. The claim that Paris and Tokyo show “growth” is not supported by this table, which gives a snapshot rather than trends over time. The final comments about marketing and future growth are speculative and do not summarise the data. To strengthen the response, give a clear overview and accurately compare all six cities across the three measures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has some paragraphing and a broad movement from opening dates and route lengths to passenger numbers, so the reader can identify its main topics. However, progression is not consistently clear: the first paragraph shifts between London, Paris, Tokyo, and a vague reference to the remaining cities, while the second mixes comparisons with personal speculation. Linking expressions such as “therefor,” “in other hand,” and “Rest of” are sometimes inaccurate or do not show the intended relationship. Repetition of “therefor” also makes cohesion mechanical. Organise the report around a concise overview followed by grouped comparisons, and use clear links such as “By contrast” or “In terms of annual passenger numbers.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt some task-related vocabulary, including “railway system,” “routes,” “passengers,” and “compared,” which helps communicate the subject. However, the range is limited and many word choices, collocations, and spellings are inaccurate, sometimes making the meaning difficult to follow. Phrases such as “massive growth” and “passengers covertion rate” do not accurately describe the figures, while “individuals prefer to traver with railways” is awkward. Repeated general terms such as “number” and “cities” also reduce precision. Use standard data-reporting language and check spelling carefully; for example, describe passenger totals as “annual ridership” and route size as “network length.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There are attempts to connect ideas in longer sentences, but the range of sentence structures is limited and errors occur frequently, sometimes obscuring relationships between the data. For example, “Londay railways open in 1863 which make its the oldest” has problems with tense, agreement, and sentence construction; “Paris in other hand establish in 1900s” also lacks a correctly formed verb phrase. Several sentences run together, and punctuation does not reliably separate complete ideas. Practise accurate simple comparison sentences before adding clauses: “London’s system opened in 1863, making it the oldest of the six.” Then check verb tense, subject–verb agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries.

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