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)

In many parts of countries, some people believe that it is important to invest a considerable amount of money on building new railway lines and high speed trains between cities. Others claim that the government should be invest money on public transport. I will dicuss both the views and give the opinion later.

Examining the former opinion, the primary argument the supporters whould put forward is that railway lines help to save time and money. People may travel to long distances more easily without any distractions. For example people can attend their meetings on time who work for a company. In addition, they also believe that travelling through high speed trains make people relax and comfortable. People can spend their time reading books or watching a movie. They can also enjoy beautiful scenery of nature through windows. One of the foremost benefit of constructing new railway lines is that people can travel to a large distance cities. For example students can travel far away countries for various purposes such as education, training sessions.

On the contrary, those in favour of the latter opinion have their own arguments. To begin with, they claim that people may not feel comfartable journey through local transport such as buses and rickshaws. people may face several challenges due to traffic congestion on roads and sometimes they may be overcrowded.

To conclude and offer my position, there are convincing arguments both for and against spending amount of railway lines instead of public transport. However, I certainly favour the former opinion.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—building new railway lines for fast trains and improving existing public transport—and provides the writer's own opinion in the conclusion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on fast trains mentions saving time and comfort, but the arguments lack depth and rely on sweeping generalisations, such as claiming students can travel to far away countries for education using high-speed rail lines between domestic cities. The position is stated rather simply at the end rather than being sustained throughout the essay. Consequently, the response aligns best with Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure separating the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'Examining the former opinion,' 'In addition,' and 'On the contrary.' However, some referencing is unclear or faulty, as seen in phrases like 'spending amount of railway lines' in the conclusion. Paragraphing is present, but the logical progression within the body paragraphs occasionally feels disjointed due to abrupt shifts in ideas. These issues place the response firmly in Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common words and phrases such as 'considerable amount of money,' 'traffic congestion,' and 'scenery of nature.' However, there are notable lexical errors and unnatural word choices throughout the text, including 'should be invest money' and 'comfartable journey.' Furthermore, spelling errors such as 'dicuss' and 'comfartable' appear, and some collocations are awkward, such as 'travelling through high speed trains.' While these errors do not severely impede communication, they prevent the lexical score from reaching Band 7.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over structure with sentences like 'People may travel to long distances more easily without any distractions.' However, grammatical errors are frequent across the essay. Examples include tense and voice issues such as 'should be invest,' preposition errors like 'travel to long distances,' and subject-verb agreement slips such as 'travelling through high speed trains make.' Punctuation and article use also need attention. Because errors are noticeable and occur regularly, albeit without completely obscuring meaning, a Band 5.0 is appropriate.

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

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