Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

Many governments face the challenge of deciding how to allocate limited transport budgets. Some people argue that constructing new high-speed railway lines between cities is essential, while others believe that improving existing public transport systems is a more practical use of public funds. This essay will discuss both views before explaining why I believe upgrading current public transport should generally be the priority.

Investing in highspeed railway can be really benefitial for the country and the people of country and It is tend to be called major upgradation for the society as it can help people travel form one place to another in very less time which was not the case earlier. It also lowers the dependency of people on air commute as it tends to be expensive and many a time it tends to get late due to weather and stuff. Best example of investment in high speed rail is of Japan and China, they have made their bullet train ( fast speed train) a huge service for their people that it has also become a tourist attraction. This train travels at the speed of [redacted phone] KMPH many a times beating the time taken by a flight to reach . also this takes directly to the center of the city.

On the other hand construction of fast speed railway's tends to bring too much govt interference leading to delay and hard to manage the flow of money. When the construction stars it often creates too much traffic foor the rugular people travelling by normal mode of commute.

Overall the benefits of a rail line is way more then some temporary hardship that may be faced by people on the daily basis ,but leading to ultimate satisfaction of commute when the project is made.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument, but the development is uneven. While you mention high-speed rail, the second viewpoint—improving existing public transport—is not actually discussed in the body paragraphs; instead, you focus on the drawbacks of high-speed rail construction. Furthermore, your conclusion contradicts your introduction: the introduction states you will argue for upgrading existing systems, but the conclusion states that the benefits of high-speed rail outweigh the hardships. This lack of a clear, consistent position throughout the essay limits the score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical progression is weak. The transition between the introduction and the body is abrupt, and the final paragraph is confusing because it seems to support the side you initially claimed you would argue against. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the other hand' and 'Overall', but they are sometimes used incorrectly or to link ideas that do not follow logically. The referencing is occasionally unclear, making the flow of the argument difficult to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks precision and sophistication. You rely on informal or vague phrasing such as 'weather and stuff' and 'too much'. There are also several word-choice errors, such as 'benefitial' (spelling), 'upgradation' (non-standard), and 'rugular' (spelling). While you attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'high-speed railway' and 'public funds', the range is limited, and the errors occasionally distract the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement ('It is tend to be', 'construction stars'), article usage, and punctuation. For example, 'It is tend to be called major upgradation' is grammatically incorrect. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar and sentence construction prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. You should focus on proofreading for basic tense and agreement errors.

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

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