Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-30

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 given below shows us the underground railway systems in six different cities. When they got opened, Kilometers of route and how many passengers travelled through these railway stations per year.

Underground railway station of London got opened in 1863 with 775 million passengers travelling per year. They cover 394 kilometers of route every year. In paris, the railway station was established in 1900 and 1191 million passengers travel every year. 199 kilometers of route get covers every year. The city which is famous for most active passengers is Tokyo which carries 1927 million passengers per year. Underground railway system in Tokyo got built in 1927 in which they cover 155 kilometers of route per year.

Recently opened railways systems like Washington DC got opened in 1976 with 144 million passengers travelling per year and it covers 126 kilometers of route every year. Railway system in Kyoto got opened in 1981 with 45 million passengers travelling per year and it has the record for covering least amount of kilometers which is 11. Los Angeles railway system is the recent one which got opened in 2001. This railway system cover 28 kilometers of route in which 50 million passangers travel per year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You report the figures for all six cities and include the opening dates, route lengths and annual passenger totals, so the response is relevant to the table. However, the summary is mainly a city-by-city list rather than a selection of the most important overall features. It does not clearly highlight, for example, that London is the oldest and has the longest route, while Tokyo has the highest passenger use; nor does it compare the two smallest systems in a concise overview. Some descriptions also misrepresent the data: routes do not “cover” a distance every year, and Kyoto does not hold a record for the least route length across all cities without a clear comparison. A stronger overview and more accurate comparisons would make the key information clearer.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response follows a generally understandable order: it introduces the table, discusses London, Paris and Tokyo, then moves to the more recently opened systems. This grouping gives the reader some sense of progression. However, the opening is an incomplete sentence, and the body largely repeats the same pattern of city, date, passengers and route length, so the organisation feels list-like rather than shaped around comparisons. Linking phrases such as “Recently opened” help signal a transition, but the relationships between figures are not consistently made explicit. Grouping the oldest or largest systems together and contrasting them with the smaller systems would create a clearer progression and reduce repetition.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary such as “established,” “passengers,” “route” and “recently opened,” and the reader can generally identify the information being described. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or repetitive. “Railway station” refers to a station rather than the whole network, and “cover 394 kilometers of route every year” incorrectly suggests an annual activity. “Most active passengers” is also not a natural way to describe the highest annual passenger total. There are spelling and form errors, including “passangers” and “railways systems.” Use precise terms such as “underground system,” “route length” and “annual passenger numbers,” and vary the language used to compare the figures.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple sentences and longer clauses, and most of the figures remain understandable. However, the range of structures is limited, and errors recur in sentence formation, verb forms and agreement. The opening fragment, “When they got opened, Kilometers of route and how many passengers…,” is not a complete sentence. In “199 kilometers of route get covers,” the verb construction is faulty, while “This railway system cover” lacks subject–verb agreement. There are also inconsistent tense choices, such as “got opened” alongside present-tense descriptions. Practise complete overview sentences and accurate present-tense reporting, for example, “The system carries 1,927 million passengers annually and has a 155-kilometre route.”

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