Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-14

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)

There is an ongoing debate regarding public transportation, whether there is need of improvement or new transportation system required. A group of individuals believ that, spend large fortune on constructing new railway track for fast running train from one city to another city. However, other claim that,existing public transport needs more funds so money should spend on it. Therefore, ahead of my opinion, both views will be discussed further.

Examining the former opinion, the primary arguement the supporters would put forward is railway is one of the oldest and trusted transportation used by local people to travel within one place to another place, if new lines constructed for trains it will be very easy and comfortable to public to reach their destinations on-time. This is because in so many parts of the world peole who come from local area use train or metro because it ticket price is cheaper than other local transportation such as bus and taxis, and due that sometimes railways are overcrowded and people cannot able to catch train on time , therefore it is suggested that if new railway path constructed more trains will be run on it in the future and more and more people would travel on it. For example, In India Mumbai local trains systems really need to construct more railway lines because people face diffculties while traveling.

On the contrary, those in favour of the latter opinion have their own arguements. To begin with, they claim that public transport in so many countries are under bad conditions and public face difficulties to reach their locations because of sudden problem occurs anytime.

In other words, in so many cities or small towns commute system is in poor condition due to that sometimes it's engine stop working or sometimes another adverse thing happen suddenly, as a result people may face challaanges to reach their destinations. For instance, in some small cities and villages of India public tranport such as buses are in a detriorated state.

To conclude and offer my position, there are convincing arguements both for and against of which public tranport systems really need money which cause beneficial for people. However, I certainly favour the latter opinion, because from my perspective improvement is more needed then new constructions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—constructing new railway lines versus improving existing public transport—and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant and supported by examples, such as mentioning the Mumbai local train system and public transport in Indian villages. However, some arguments lack full extension and suffer from repetition and generalisation, which prevents the response from reaching a higher band. For instance, the explanation of overcrowding and ticket prices is slightly convoluted. Nevertheless, a clear position is maintained throughout, satisfying the requirements for Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, featuring an introduction, two body paragraphs representing each view, and a conclusion. However, cohesion is frequently faulty and mechanical. The student relies on basic or awkward transitional phrases like 'Examining the former opinion', 'ahead of my opinion', and 'To begin with, they claim'. Furthermore, referencing and pronoun use are sometimes unclear, as seen in sentences like 'due that sometimes railways are overcrowded'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas, but logical progression within paragraphs is occasionally disrupted by run-on sentences and grammatical slips, placing this performance firmly at Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common terms such as 'overcrowded', 'deteriorated', and 'infrastructure' equivalents. However, there are frequent word-choice and collocation errors, along with spelling mistakes. Examples include 'believ' instead of believe, 'spend large fortune' instead of spending a large fortune, 'ticket price' instead of ticket prices, and 'detriorated state' instead of deteriorated state. While these errors are noticeable and occasionally cause slight difficulty for the reader, communication remains intact throughout the essay, which aligns well with the Band 5.5 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though attempts at complex structures are frequently faulty. There are persistent grammatical errors, including missing articles ('if new lines constructed', 'because it ticket price is cheaper'), tense inconsistencies, and faulty clause connections (e.g., 'due that sometimes railways are overcrowded'). Punctuation is also problematic, with missing spaces after commas and periods. Although these errors are frequent and require the reader to occasionally re-read sections, the meaning is generally recoverable and communication is rarely completely impeded, meriting a Band 5.0.

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