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 table demonstrates the information aboutthe underground railway system in different cities named as London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles and passengers per year showed in millions.

In overview, it can be seen clearly that the large proportion of passengers underground railways system were in tokyo at over quartar of nineteenth centery and the least proportion of passegers were kyoto at over three quartar of nineteenth centery. The Los Angeles cross the Kyoto according to the kilometers of route and passengers per year in millions as well with slight difference.

Firstly. the city of Lodon opend underground railway system in 1863 and cover 394km of rouytes with 775 millions of passengers and Paris started in 1900 and carry 199 routes and also 1191 millions of travellers. However, Tokyo and Washington DC opened in 1927 and 1976 respectively and moved with different passengers in millions, these were 1927 and 144 as well, they took routes in kilometers were 155 and 126 according to the sequence.

Secondly, Kyoto started its journey in 1981 with 45 million of passengers and cover just 11Km routes as well as In 2001, Los Angeles carried 50 million of travellers in 28 routes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You include all six cities and report the three categories of data, and your overview correctly identifies Tokyo as having the most annual passengers and Kyoto the fewest. However, the overview is weakened by the inaccurate phrase “over quartar of nineteenth centery”: the table gives passenger totals, not proportions or fractions of a century. The comparison that Los Angeles exceeds Kyoto in route length and passenger numbers is relevant, but the main features are not consistently selected or clearly expressed. Some figures are also attached to the wrong measure, such as saying Paris “carry 199 routes” rather than having a 199-kilometre route. To strengthen the response, state the key contrasts accurately and compare the oldest/largest system with the newest/smallest ones.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. “Firstly” and “Secondly” help signal the shift from the older and larger systems to Kyoto and Los Angeles, while “respectively” attempts to connect paired figures. However, progression within the first body paragraph is difficult to follow because dates, route lengths, and passenger totals are combined in long, awkward sentences. The overview also introduces an unclear comparison, and the opening sentence repeats information without establishing a clear focus. Organise the data into meaningful groups and give each sentence one clear comparison; use linking expressions only where they accurately show the relationship between figures.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-related vocabulary, including “underground railway system,” “passengers per year,” “routes,” and “travellers,” so the topic is generally identifiable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations make the data difficult to interpret. For example, “carry 199 routes” confuses route length with passenger capacity, while “the large proportion of passengers” is not an accurate way to describe the highest total. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “Lodon,” “opend,” “quartar,” and “passegers.” Aim for precise data-reporting phrases such as “had a route network of” and “recorded annual passenger numbers of,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a sentence using “while” and one using “respectively.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and frequent errors make some relationships between the figures hard to follow. Examples include “the large proportion … were in tokyo,” where the subject and verb do not agree, and “In 2001, Los Angeles carried 50 million of travellers in 28 routes,” which has problems with articles, number, and sentence construction. Punctuation is also inconsistent: “Firstly.” should introduce the following sentence with a comma, and the final paragraph contains an awkward capitalisation after “as well as.” Practise accurate simple comparisons before combining several facts in one sentence.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.