Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-29

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 5.0)

The given table illustrates the underground railway systems in six different cities. It tells about the city name, date opened, kilometers of route and als passengers per year.

The six cities in which underground railway system is made are London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles. The city with most people travel per year is Tokyo. Almost nineteen hundred and twenty seven millions passengers travel in one year through railway. The second most busy station is Paris and it opened in the beginning of 1900. It also travels more than a 1100 millions passengers every year. The next station with most passengers is London and this station is old than all other 5 countries. This station is opened in 1863 and it has also longest route almost 394 kilometers. The Washington station has also hundred of millions passengers every year. The remaining two cities have a millions of passengers. These two cities were opened late than other four cities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the six cities and report several important comparisons: Tokyo has the highest annual passenger figure, while London has the oldest and longest system. These are relevant main features. However, the summary is only partial because it omits or obscures key data, especially the exact figures for Washington, Kyoto and Los Angeles, and it does not clearly compare route lengths across the systems. Some statements are inaccurate or unclear: “The Washington station has also hundred of millions passengers” does not report the table’s figure of 144 million, and “remaining two cities have a millions” gives no useful comparison. Include a concise overview and select accurate figures for all notable extremes and contrasts.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic sequence, moving from an introduction to passenger numbers and then to London and the newer systems. Comparisons such as “The second most busy” and “The next station” help signal order. However, the ideas are mostly presented in one block, and the progression is not consistently clear: the final reference to “the remaining two cities” makes the reader infer which cities are meant. Repeated use of “station” for railway systems also weakens clarity. Organise the information into a clear overview and one or two comparison paragraphs, grouping cities by passenger use, route length or opening date, and use precise references to avoid ambiguity.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary, including “passengers per year,” “longest route” and “opened,” so the topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are noticeably inaccurate, sometimes making the meaning awkward: “The city with most people travel per year,” “second most busy station,” and “It also travels” do not express the intended ideas naturally. “Station” is also repeated where “system” or “network” would be more precise. Aim to use accurate data-reporting language and vary terms appropriately, for example, “carried,” “recorded,” “annual ridership” and “route length.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Most sentences use simple structures, and the reader can understand the general comparisons, but grammatical errors occur frequently and some sentences are difficult to interpret. For example, “The city with most people travel per year is Tokyo” lacks a clear grammatical structure, while “It also travels more than a 1100 millions passengers” has problems with subject–verb construction and number agreement. There are also errors in articles and comparison forms, as in “has a millions” and “opened late than.” Practise forming accurate comparative sentences and checking singular/plural agreement, articles and verb forms. A wider range of correctly controlled sentence patterns would make the report clearer.

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