Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-04

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)

It is undeniable that public transportation become a pensive concern in this modern economy. In this regards, some people believe that it is necessary to spend a large sum of money on constructing new railway lines for very fast trains between cities while others think that the money should also be spent on improving existing public transportation. This essay will outline the both perspectives but also my opinion which is in favor of former point of view in forthcoming fragments with logical conclusion.

To commence with, those who opine that spending money on constructing new railway lines have their own reasons and point off view. The prime one is that trains are useful and beneficial for fast travelling to far away areas and locations. To explain more, masses who love to travel through trains may have a comfortable experience and travelling to far away locations. To illustrate, this cut hours for long trips may save a lot of time without depending on public transports or private vehicles. Secondly, the railway lines are also helpful for business growth and development. To elaborate, import and export of goods and services to different states leads to globalization and ma cope up with different business ideas. Moreover, adoption of this practice must be essential to save time and also convenient to use.

Nevertheless, some people ruminate that government should spend money on improving existing public transports instead of refurbishing railway stations. First and foremost, they ought to spend money on buses. To explain it, now a days most youngsters face problems in reaching to their academic sessions on time who may travel from far away places and face difficulties. Moreover, public transports especially busses must be made comfortable so that people may travel to long distances easily and must be arranged in backward areas who do not have travelling facilities.

To conclude, although there are many benefits of spending money on existing public transportation which must be comfortable for local people and also must be affordable who travel through busses everyday.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a personal opinion, although the opinion is not fully integrated into the body paragraphs. While the prompt asks for a discussion of both views, the development of ideas is somewhat repetitive and lacks depth. For example, the argument regarding 'business growth' is mentioned but not sufficiently explained with concrete examples. The conclusion is incomplete, as it fails to summarize the main points or restate the opinion clearly, leaving the task partially addressed in terms of structure and depth.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the flow between ideas is often mechanical. While cohesive devices like 'To commence with' and 'Nevertheless' are used, they are sometimes applied in a formulaic way. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the phrase 'ma cope up with different business ideas,' which disrupts the logical progression. Paragraphing is present, but the final paragraph is a sentence fragment rather than a fully developed conclusion, which negatively impacts the overall coherence of the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks precision and sophistication. There are several instances of awkward word choices, such as 'pensive concern' (likely meant 'pressing concern') and 'ma cope up with' (which is informal and unclear). The range of vocabulary is limited, and the student relies on basic phrasing. To reach a higher band, the student needs to use more precise collocations and avoid informal or misused terminology that occasionally hinders the clarity of the argument.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('public transportation become'), incorrect preposition usage ('In this regards'), and awkward phrasing ('those who opine that spending money... have their own reasons and point off view'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of errors is high enough to cause some distraction for the reader and prevents the essay from reaching a higher band.

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