Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · 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 4.0)

The graph displays datas about underground railway systems of six different cities all around the world.

The datas show that in the city of Tokyo, the highest amount of people use the underground railway system, roughly 1927 million passengers per yer.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies one relevant feature: Tokyo has the highest annual passenger figure, and it includes the correct figure of 1,927 million. However, it does not provide a meaningful summary of the table as a whole. It omits comparisons involving the opening dates and route lengths, as well as the figures for the other five cities, and there is no overview of the main patterns. The response also falls substantially short of the required 150 words, leaving too little space to select and report the key information. To improve, give an overview of the oldest and newest systems and the largest and smallest networks, then support it with comparisons across several cities and all three measures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The two sentences are connected in a simple, understandable order: the first introduces the subject, and the second gives a detail about Tokyo. The phrase “The datas show that” provides a basic link between them. However, the response is too brief to establish a clear progression through the table, and it has no paragraphing or grouping of related comparisons. The opening also calls the visual a “graph,” although the information is presented in a table, which weakens the introduction’s accuracy. Organise a fuller response into an introduction, an overview, and one or two paragraphs grouping cities by notable figures; use linking phrases to make those comparisons easy to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the limited information included, with relevant terms such as “underground railway systems,” “cities,” and “passengers.” However, the range is narrow and some choices are inaccurate or unnatural for describing a table. “Graph” does not accurately name the visual, “datas” is not the standard plural form, and “amount of people” is less suitable than a phrase using “number.” “All around the world” adds little precision. Use task-specific language such as “table,” “annual passenger numbers,” “route length,” and “the oldest system,” and vary comparison vocabulary to describe the figures clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response uses two complete sentences, and the second includes a subordinate clause beginning “that,” showing a basic attempt to connect ideas. The meaning is generally understandable. However, the sentence structures are simple and repetitive, with little variety to express comparisons or contrasts. In “the highest amount of people use,” the noun phrase is not grammatically well formed; a construction such as “the largest number of passengers use” would be clearer. The phrase “roughly 1927 million passengers per yer” is also embedded in a sentence that would benefit from more controlled punctuation and phrasing. Practise accurate comparative structures and longer sentences that combine figures without losing grammatical control.

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