Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-29

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 6.0)

There is an ongoing debate whether governments should spend significant money on construction of new railway lines for fast inter-city transportation or they should spent in development of existing transportation services.

This eassay will examine both the viewpoint before explaining why I believe advancement of a railway infrastructure has a key role to play in transportation.

On the one hand, rail services are considerasbly less time-consuming than the other ones. For people who works out their city, trains are boon, because they are always time constraint. Another factor is affordability. For instance, train contains thousands of people on the one go and this spacitious quality of the railway makes it affordable. A huge number of population can travel through train at the same time, which directly leads to reduction in usage of the personal vehicles and so decrease in pollution and humidity. So, availablility and expansion of the railway infrastructure like- investment in the metro projects and bullet train projects can alleviate multiple problems inside and outside of the city.

On the other hand, railway projects are highly expensive and they require additional platforms and appropriate paths. Meanwhile, there are no such requirenments in the other transportation services such as public bus. After all, it is extremely challanging to provide railway facilities inside the city. For example, people struggle to reach at the congested as well as local destinations inside the town via rails. To avoid all these consequences, the only solution is the improvement of the existing public transport, because by strengthening of these services governments can provide better accessibility of the travel to people.

To conclude, although improvement of the existing facilities is essential, investment in the constructation of the railways ensure that, people can travel fast, save money along with the benefits to the environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. The ideas are relevant, such as the speed and environmental benefits of high-speed rail versus the accessibility and cost-effectiveness of existing public transport. However, some points are under-developed; for instance, the mention of 'humidity' as a negative factor of personal vehicles is unclear and lacks logical connection to the argument. While the position is consistent, the development of the arguments could be more nuanced to reach a higher band. Overall, the task requirements are met, and the main points are clearly presented.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into four paragraphs with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the one hand', 'Another factor', and 'To conclude', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and there are instances where the flow is interrupted by awkward phrasing, such as 'For people who works out their city'. The use of referencing is generally clear, but the logical progression within paragraphs could be smoother to ensure a more sophisticated flow of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to express ideas clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'infrastructure', 'accessibility', and 'inter-city transportation'. However, there are several word-choice errors and spelling mistakes, such as 'eassay', 'considerasbly', 'spacitious', and 'constructation'. The phrase 'humidity' is used incorrectly in the context of vehicle pollution. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, the frequent spelling and collocation errors prevent the response from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('people who works out their city'), incorrect preposition usage ('reach at the congested'), and article errors ('the development of existing transportation'). While these errors do not significantly impede communication, they are persistent throughout the text. To improve, the student should focus on basic subject-verb agreement and proofreading for common grammatical slips to ensure a higher level of accuracy.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.