Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-11-12

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In a number of countries, some people think it is necessary to spend large sums of money on constructing new railway lines for very fast trains between cities. Others believe the money should be spent on improving existing public transport.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In many nations, some people thinks that it is important to invest huge amount of money on building new railway lines for rapid trains within cities while others believe that the capital should be used to improve the current public transport. Although, building new railway lines offers advantages such as fast transport I disagree with that because investing in current public transport system have advantages like low cost and same management.

Constructing new railway lines for very fast traind beteen cities have a major advantage such as fast transportation. In addition fast transportation is really important for many individuals. Many countries try to provide fast railway lines for such as China have provided very fast railway transport to Tibet so during any war the soilders can arrive at the place within 24 hours.

While improving current transport systems provides advantages like low cost as improving the same system requires ledd capital rathar than establishing new system. Furthermore, improving new system is been done on a low budget as there are only a little adjustment which are to be performed.this is how little cost is an advantage. The other advantage is same management. moreover, improving any existing systems does not require to create a new management system. Therefore same people are been managing the system who have experience. For instance, bus transport system in ahmedabad have improved its buses and timing rathan than introducing fast trains.

In conclusion, although there are advantages of building new railway lines still I feel that money should be spent on making existing system better.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both views and make your own position clear: you acknowledge the speed advantage of new railways, then argue that improving existing transport is preferable. The points about lower costs and retaining experienced management are relevant, and the Ahmedabad bus example gives the second view some support. However, the two sides are not developed equally. The case for high-speed rail relies mainly on speed and a brief, unusual example about transporting soldiers, without explaining its wider benefits for passengers or cities. The cost and management arguments are also asserted more than explained. To strengthen the response, develop each point with a clear explanation and a relevant example, and make the comparison between the two investments more explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion that restates your opinion. This makes the main line of argument easy to follow. You also use linking expressions such as “In addition,” “Furthermore,” and “For instance” to connect supporting points. At times, however, cohesion feels mechanical or the links are unclear. The paragraph beginning “While improving current transport systems” moves from cost to management with “The other advantage” but does not fully explain how these points relate to the comparison. Some transitions, including “Although” at the start of the introduction, are awkwardly placed. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each example directly to the claim it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “railway lines,” “public transport,” “capital,” and “management.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “fast transportation” and “low budget.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, which sometimes makes the meaning less natural. For example, “improving new system” conflicts with your argument about existing systems, while “same management” is not a natural way to express continuity of management. Spelling errors such as “traind,” “beteen,” and “soilders” are noticeable. Build a wider set of accurate transport and investment phrases, and check spelling and collocations carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a concession in “Although, building new railway lines offers advantages…” and a reason clause beginning “as improving the same system…”. The overall meaning is generally recoverable, but errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction are frequent enough to make some sentences awkward. For example, “some people thinks” should use a plural verb, and “the capital should be used” is followed by “the current public transport system” without consistent article use elsewhere. The sentence “improving new system is been done” has an incorrect verb construction, while “there are only a little adjustment” has agreement and countability problems. Practise accurate clause patterns and proofread each sentence for subject–verb agreement and verb forms.

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