Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-20

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)

I believe it is about balancing the budgeting to improve the public transport services in a country. Please find my opinion and reasoning below from my own experience and observation.

in the past 10 years, Bangladesh has developed new train routes and railway station. One notable constructions are both Dhaka to Cox's Bazar train route and another is metro rail. Now both this construction was necessary and been a greater source of comfort for the mass people. The journey by bus from Dhaka to Cox's Bazar was really hectic. Sometime when you start the journey at 11 PM at night you would reach the destination at 1 or 2 PM noon the next day, with only two breaks in between. For children, elderly people this journey was exhausting and tiring. Similarly, there were bus to every route especially in Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh and most crowded place. Commuting every day by these roads, with unhealthy buses, and huge traffic, made peoples lives miserable. The installation of metro rail, fast train has added more value to these peoples lives and saved time and money. Similarly, in many routes there was hardly any AC bus services, which the government has recently launched and introduced. Not only these, in Bangladesh, in 65 districts, the government has launched more than 200+ buses specifically for the female consumers, so they commute to their school, colleges, university and workplaces comfortably. In both these projects the government had invest large sums of money, which I believe was necessary.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the construction of fast trains and the improvement of existing public transport. However, the development is somewhat unbalanced. While you provide a detailed example regarding Bangladesh, the essay focuses heavily on the benefits of new infrastructure (metro/fast trains) and less on the counter-argument of improving existing systems, other than a brief mention of AC buses. To reach a higher band, ensure that both sides of the argument are explored with equal depth and that your personal opinion is clearly stated in the introduction and consistently supported throughout the body paragraphs.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into two paragraphs, but the structure is quite limited. The introduction is very brief and lacks a clear thesis statement that outlines the essay's direction. While there is a logical flow within the body paragraph, the transition between the two viewpoints is abrupt. The use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical (e.g., 'Similarly', 'Not only these'). To improve, use more varied linking words to connect ideas between sentences and ensure that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that guides the reader through your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. You use some repetitive phrasing, such as 'construction' and 'journey'. There are also some minor collocation errors, such as 'mass people' (should be 'the general public' or 'the masses') and 'government had invest' (should be 'government had invested'). To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated vocabulary related to urban planning and transportation, and focus on using words in their correct grammatical forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include 'both this construction was necessary' (should be 'these constructions were'), 'there were bus to every route' (should be 'there were buses on every route'), and 'peoples lives' (should be 'people's lives'). While these errors do not prevent communication, they indicate a need for more careful proofreading, particularly regarding subject-verb agreement, pluralization, and possessive apostrophes.

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

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