Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-16
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)
In the period of modernity, transport plays a vital role in our life. Some people argue that government should spend sums of money to construct new railway lines, while other argue that government should spend money on improving existing public transport. In the eassy we will discuss both views and present our own opinion.
The first argument in favour of this point of view is that, constructing new railways for very fast trains between cities. Constructing new railways is good for people who wants go fast on their jobs, that will help him to save time. For example, in pakistan there are alot population the transport here is not good and people face very difficulty to go from one city to another. So, i think govermenment should spend money on it.
another key reason is that, imroving existing transport, if government did not want to spend money on constructing new railways then they will spend some money on existing transport and make it good for people who needs transport, there is alot of poor people in pakistan who have not enough money to buy a car or a bike. So, they will be use transport to go anywhere they want.
In conclusion, i believe that government must spend money on railways
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response attempts to address both views on railway spending versus improving existing public transport, and the writer provides a brief personal conclusion. However, the length requirement has not been met, as the response contains only 211 words, falling well short of the 250-word minimum. This results in a negative impact on task completion. Furthermore, the ideas are quite limited and under-developed. For example, the arguments regarding Pakistan's population and transport needs are overly simplistic and lack sufficient extension or relevant examples to fully explore the prompt. While the student's position is stated, it lacks deep development, aligning the response with Band 5 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay demonstrates some basic organisation, opening with an introductory paragraph, followed by two body paragraphs and a brief conclusion. However, progression is often hindered by abrupt transitions and faulty mechanical cohesion, such as 'The first argument in favour of this point of view is that, constructing new railways...' which results in incomplete grammatical structures. Paragraphing is weak, and the second body paragraph runs multiple distinct thoughts together without proper separation. Referencing is also unclear in places, such as the sudden shift to personal opinion with 'So, i think govermenment should spend money on it.' These shortcomings reflect the characteristics of Band 5 for coherence and cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive, with frequent reliance on simple words like 'spend', 'money', 'transport', and 'good'. There are noticeable limitations and inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'imroving' (improving) and awkward collocations like 'go fast on their jobs'. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the basic message, the lack of a flexible or wide range of lexical items, combined with spelling errors and awkward phrasing, places this performance securely at Band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student uses a limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple sentences joined by basic conjunctions. Attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty, leading to run-on structures and comma splices, as seen in 'imroving existing transport, if government did not want to spend money on constructing new railways then they will spend some money...'. There are frequent errors in punctuation and capitalization (e.g., 'pakistan', 'i'), subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'other argue'), and verb tenses. Because these errors occur frequently and occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader, a Band 5 score is appropriate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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