Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-05

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)

Some people believed that construction of new railway track between cities to deploy fastest trains on the routes is a essential while others feels that upgrading existing public transport is more necessary. I appreciate both the views but in my opinion I pick improving current transportation.

One one hand, the people argued of installing new projects of railway to make the commute more faster and reliable. While it need more efforts and new plans are required for the government to kick start these types of projects and accomplishing these projects are also challenging and it creates various hurdles for the community in the routes of their offices and schools. On the other hand, people suggested to upgrade the running system of public transport. In place of 30 seater busses bring 50 seater busses or 70 seater busses to make more people to commute. The capacity of bus stops should be increased.

In my opinion, I agree with the improvements of existing public transportation system. It is far more convenient than constructing the new tracks and starting new fast trains. For instance, I live in the Pakistan in the Lahore city, if government starts new project there we should use alternative routes to reach on our destinations and it makes road more congested due to excessive traffic and it creates a lot of problems. Whereas if we upgrade the system is it will be more reliable and effective. no alternative routes are needed.

Therefore, I agree with the upgradation of public transport rather than constructing new routes and public transport.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both views and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention the benefits of fast trains and the practicalities of upgrading buses, the arguments lack depth and specific supporting evidence. For instance, the discussion on 'hurdles' for the community is vague. To reach a higher band, you should expand on the 'why' and 'how' of your arguments, providing more detailed reasoning for why one approach is superior to the other in a broader context beyond just local traffic congestion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate, such as 'One one hand' (which contains a repetition error) and the transition 'Therefore, I agree with the upgradation...'. Some sentences feel disjointed, and the logical flow between ideas could be smoother. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the connection between the general topic and your specific example about Lahore could be better integrated to improve the overall progression of your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. You rely on basic terms like 'new projects', 'problems', and 'necessary'. There are also some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'upgradation' (which is non-standard; 'upgrading' or 'improvement' is better) and 'make the commute more faster' (which is grammatically redundant). To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated vocabulary related to urban planning and infrastructure, and ensure that your word choices are natural and contextually appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but the accuracy is inconsistent. You frequently make errors with subject-verb agreement, such as 'some people believed' (should be 'believe') and 'others feels' (should be 'feel'). There are also issues with articles ('the construction', 'the Lahore city') and prepositional usage. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to distract the reader. Focusing on basic grammatical accuracy and proofreading for subject-verb agreement and article usage will significantly improve your score.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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