Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-04

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 given data in the table gives the information of six cities about the underground railway systems. Also has mensioned the date opened and the how much kilometers the route is ,and the passengers travells in a year.

As per the given data, we can see that london was the city that holds the first underground railway system as compared to the other city, and has the longest route of 394 kilometers, but has lacked in the numbers of travelling passengers as it only holds 775 millions it is the 3rd best according to the rest cities. Meanwhile, Tokyo and paris had the system later in 1900 and 1927 and has a route of 199 and 155 respectively and holds the gretest travelling passengers per year as compared to other cities with number of 1191 for paris and the dominated numbers 1927 of tokyo.

On the other hand, The construction of railways system was held late in washington DC , kyoto and los angeles. As it holds the smallest route of 126 for washington DC and only kilometers for kyto which is the smallest route among all the six cities ,28 kilometers for Los Angeles holding the 2nd smallest route. According to smaller routes the aslo has a low number as travelling passengers per year. Particularly cities with the small route has a small numbers of passengers travelling per year such like cities washington DC has 144 million number of travellers in year, kyto has the lowest numbers of passengers per year and Los Angeles has 50 million of travellers travelling per year.

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 group the three later-opening systems. However, the overview is not sufficiently clear or accurate, and some key figures are missing or confused. For example, you call London “3rd best” for passenger numbers without explaining the ranking, and the route length for Kyoto is omitted. The opening mainly repeats what the table contains rather than summarising its main pattern. To strengthen the response, give a concise overview of the extremes across all three measures, then report the figures accurately and compare them directly. Avoid vague claims such as “small route” and “small numbers” when the data allows precise comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic structure, moving from an introduction to comparisons of older systems and then newer ones. Linking phrases such as “Meanwhile” and “On the other hand” show an attempt to connect ideas. However, progression is uneven: the second paragraph combines opening dates, route lengths and passenger rankings in a way that is difficult to follow, and the final paragraph repeats the relationship between short routes and low passenger numbers. Some references are unclear, as in “According to smaller routes the aslo has a low number.” Organise the report around clear comparisons—for example, oldest and longest, busiest, and newest and smallest—and use each paragraph to develop one comparison. This would make the information easier to track.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “underground railway system,” “route,” “passengers” and “construction,” so the subject is generally recognisable. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or repetitive. Phrases such as “holds the first underground railway system,” “gretest travelling passengers” and “dominated numbers” do not express the comparisons naturally. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “mensioned,” “travells,” “kyto” and “aslo,” which can distract the reader. Aim for precise reporting language such as “opened,” “had the longest route,” “carried the most passengers” and “recorded.” Check spelling carefully and avoid repeating “small” when more exact descriptions are available.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts some longer sentences using contrast and comparison, but these are often difficult to control. For example, “Also has mensioned the date opened” is a sentence fragment, while “Meanwhile, Tokyo and paris had the system later in 1900 and 1927 and has a route…” has problems with sentence structure and subject–verb agreement. Articles and plural forms are also inconsistent, as in “the numbers of travelling passengers” and “a small numbers.” Punctuation and capitalisation are not consistently controlled, which adds to the difficulty of reading some sentences. Practise writing shorter, complete sentences first, then combine related comparisons with accurate clauses. Check that each sentence has a clear subject and verb and that verbs agree with their subjects.

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