Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-12

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 5.0)

Some people believe that constructing railway lines are important for quick trains. While, others think that money should be invested on existing roads to facilitate transportation for general public. In my opinion, its more important to maintain present roads to help local people for their traveling, searching job opportunities or making their life easy.

First of all, some people consider spending abundant amount of money on building new railway lines for trains or buses between different cities. In Addition, this cost huge amount of financial resources. Additionally, this process take long time and cause problems for citizens in day to day life and increase GDP of country. Moreover, it increases the employment possibility for people including engineers, laborer's and staff.

On the other hand, if the money utilize on improving the current road. This cost low amount of expenditure and less time in constructing. For instance, In todays time, our country Pakistan already have lesser resources and already take debt from other countries. Therefore, we should use in other ways where required including healthcare, education and environment.

In a nut shell, it is excellent to spend funding in building new roads which lead to economic growth, and better employment. Whereas, maintaining current roads are important due to less expenditure and lower resources.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses both parts of the task by discussing high-speed railways and public transport, while also presenting an opinion, although the stance shifts slightly towards the end between roads and railways. Ideas are introduced, such as economic benefits and financial constraints, but they remain under-developed and lack extension. Furthermore, the length requirement has not been met, as the response contains only 212 words, which falls significantly short of the 250-word minimum. This under-length impacts the overall fullness of the task response. Consequently, the performance aligns best with the Band 5 descriptors, where ideas are limited and under-developed, and the task is only partially addressed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is divided into paragraphs, including an introduction, body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. However, the logical progression is hindered by abrupt transitions and repetitive points. While cohesive devices like 'First of all', 'In Addition', 'Additionally', and 'On the other hand' are attempted, they are often overused or used inaccurately, such as starting consecutive sentences with 'Additionally' and 'Moreover'. Paragraphing is also somewhat confused in the conclusion, where the writer contradicts previous statements about public transport by discussing building new roads. Overall organisation shows some basic structure, but referencing and cohesion are faulty, matching the Band 5 level.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for basic communication, but it is repetitive and lacks precision. Phrases like 'abundant amount of money', 'cost huge amount of financial resources', and 'lesser resources' demonstrate a limited lexical range. There are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'quick trains' instead of 'high-speed trains' and 'if the money utilize' instead of 'if the money is utilised'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary like 'employment possibility' and 'expenditure', but these are accompanied by errors. These limitations reflect the characteristics of Band 5, featuring a minimally adequate range with noticeable errors that occasionally cause difficulty.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control is weak, leading to frequent grammatical errors. Examples of errors include subject-verb agreement issues ('constructing railway lines are important'), tense misuse ('this process take long time', 'if the money utilize'), and sentence fragments ('While, others think...'). Punctuation is also problematic, with incorrect commas separating verbs and clauses. Because complex sentences are frequently faulty and errors recur throughout the text, causing some difficulty for the reader, the performance is firmly placed at Band 5.

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