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 countries, some people believe that it is important to invest a considerable amount of money in building new railway lines and high speed trains between cities. Others claim that the government should be invest money on public transport. I will discuss both views and give my 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 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 makes people relaxed and comfortable. People can spend their time reading books or watching a movie. They can also enjoy the beautiful scenery of nature through the windows. One of the foremost benefits of constructing new railway lines is that people can travel to large distance between cities. For example students can travel to far away countries for various purposes such as education and 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 when 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 money on railway lines instead of public transport. However, I certainly favour the former opinion.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on transportation funding and providing a clear, albeit brief, personal opinion at the end. The position is stated, such as when the student writes, 'I certainly favour the former opinion.' However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on high-speed rail largely reiterates general points about saving time and enjoying scenery without deep extension or rigorous argumentation. Similarly, the counterargument concerning existing public transport is brief and lacks depth regarding financial prioritisation. While the prompt is addressed, the overall elaboration remains at a Band 6 level due to under-developed arguments and generalisations in supporting details.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs examining each viewpoint, and concluding with a summary and position. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'Examining the former opinion,' 'In addition,' and 'On the contrary.' However, referencing and logical progression show some mechanical tendencies. For example, the phrase 'give my opinion later' in the introduction is rather abrupt, and the transition into the second half of the paragraph discussing students travelling to far away countries feels slightly disconnected from the preceding points about relaxation. Overall, the organisational structure is logical enough to ensure readability, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully using terms such as 'infrastructure,' 'transportation,' and 'traffic congestion.' However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasings, such as 'be invest money on,' 'journey through local transport,' and spelling/word-choice slips like 'comfartable' instead of comfortable and 'travel to large distance.' The student attempts some less common vocabulary, but precision and collocation are occasionally flawed, as seen in 'spending amount of money' missing a determiner. These lexical limitations and errors restrict the score to a solid Band 5.5, reflecting a mix of adequate everyday language with frequent minor inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical errors occur frequently throughout the text. Examples include 'the government should be invest money on,' 'who work for a company' placed awkwardly after a verb phrase, and 'travelling through high speed trains' instead of 'on.' Furthermore, punctuation and preposition choices occasionally falter, such as 'travel to far away countries' and 'spending amount of money.' While these errors do not severely impede communication, their frequency prevents the grammar score from reaching Band 6.0, as error-free sentences are not consistently maintained across the majority of the writing.

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

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