Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-19

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)

Growing population raised a need to revisit transporation service running through within any country. I believe we evitable need faster trains , but i strongly disagree to not spend any amount to improve in exisiting public transportation.

In my opinion, Government should be first focus on current problem which population faces everyday in life. Spending large amount in only developing new faster railway lines is not a best approch to deal. For example, let's say we have one transportation service running from Delhi to Gujarat is getting lots of complaints. Root cause of this can be anything such as crowd, bad routes design, hanging server, lack of ticket available, etc, such case must be fixed first first rather than new development .

On other side, for growing business, to find more opportunities, along with to decrease culture difference , we must have to take steps towards faster transportation deveoplment. Having more new routes, fatser trains between cities will helps us to overcome few previous problem. It will be apple-to -apple situation as spending money to develope fast railways will shown global development which can be later expand to another country as well. If i had to travel daily for 2 hours through train due to my work, it is really become hectic as you loss productivity, at same time you don't have time to do anything new. in this scenario, if faster trains available it will save travelling time for me so i can do something else as well.

Overall, I would like to spend money wisely on actual needs. If smaller amount of money can used to improve public transportation which impact more on life there is no harm to do that. Along with that large amount of money still left to use for newer deveoplment . This will be the best balanced approach according to me .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on public transport spending and providing a clear personal opinion. The writer argues for a balanced approach between investing in high-speed rail and improving existing services. Ideas are presented, such as the need to fix everyday commuter problems and the business benefits of faster travel. However, some ideas lack full extension and suffer from underdeveloped arguments or slightly confusing explanations, such as the example regarding the Delhi to Gujarat route and the apple-to-apple analogy. Consequently, the task response aligns best with a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is divided into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing each side of the argument, and a conclusion. However, the progression of ideas is sometimes hindered by awkward transitions and repetitive referencing. Cohesive devices are used, but they are occasionally mechanical or inaccurate, as seen in phrases like 'On other side' instead of 'On the other hand'. Referencing is not always clear, and the overall flow between sentences can feel disjointed. This level of cohesive control corresponds to a Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to convey basic arguments about transportation. There are attempts to use less common items such as 'transporation service', 'approch', and 'productivity', but these are accompanied by frequent spelling and word-choice errors, including 'evitable' instead of 'inevitable', 'exisiting' instead of 'existing', and 'deveoplment'. While these inaccuracies do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to a Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical control is weak throughout the essay. There are frequent errors in verb tense, article usage, and sentence structure, such as 'Growing population raised a need', 'Government should be first focus', and 'it is really become hectic as you loss productivity'. Punctuation errors, such as missing capitalisation and incorrect spacing around commas, are also common. Because these frequent errors cause occasional difficulty for the reader, the grammar score is a Band 5.0.

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