Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-20

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 4.0)

As, people hold different views about 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.The following essay will discuss both sides of this dispute and explain my support for the former view of thinking about trains and railways is totally positive and it is very important for every cities to have a good quality of railway lines and trains because everyone should have right to travel in good vehicles, everyone are not rich while some people are poor and some are rich so everyone doesnt have same money to spent on other vehicles.While on the other view of my thinking about money should be spent on existing transport vehicles is also a good point but cost and rent is to much high of those vehicles for travelling ,every person do not afford rent of even public transport As people hold conflicting views whether taking a gap year or joining the labor force as early as possible. while a number of people believe that if u have good quality of train,its very benficial and useful for your daily uses ,if somone want to go any other city urgently so its so easy to sat on the train of thier own city and move quickly to other destination so number of maximum people have many benefits of trains and also the rent of trains is so low ,everyone cost it is more beneficial, I would argue for the opposite which suggests only middle class people used public transport and its also useful but not more than trains. The general cost of traveling in a rented or public motor vehicle. and buses is to much high I would argue for the opposite which suggests joining the first satatement as early as possible. as people from both sides of the discussion have their reasons, the evidence suggests to me that trains is more complusory and benefical for human uses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response attempts to address both views regarding high-speed rail versus existing public transport, and the writer provides a personal opinion in favour of new railway lines. However, the development of ideas is severely hindered by severe cohesion and coherence breakdowns, leading to confusing arguments and repetitive statements regarding the cost of travel. The prompt is touched upon, but the ideas remain underdeveloped and are obscured by confusing phrasing, irrelevant interjections such as a sudden copied sentence about taking a gap year, and disjointed reasoning. Overall, the performance aligns most closely with the Band 4 descriptors, where the response addresses the task minimally and tangentially with limited, repetitive ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

Cohesion and coherence are extremely weak throughout the text. The essay lacks proper paragraphing, presented instead as a single massive block of text containing run-on sentences. There is a complete lack of logical progression, and the text includes bizarre, irrelevant intrusions such as the copied fragment 'As people hold conflicting views whether taking a gap year or joining the labor force as early as possible.' Cohesive devices are either missing or misused, and referencing is faulty, making it very difficult for the reader to follow the train of thought. This falls firmly into the Band 3 or Band 4 category; a score of 4.0 is awarded as information and ideas are not arranged coherently and paragraphing is absent.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.0

The lexical resource is basic and repetitive, heavily relying on words like 'money', 'trains', 'transport', 'cost', and 'rent'. There are numerous inappropriate word choices and collocations, such as 'right to travel in good vehicles', 'sat on the train', and 'everyone cost it'. Vocabulary is inadequate for expressing precise ideas, and spelling or word-choice errors frequently occur. While basic communication of the topic is attempted, the limited range and frequent errors mean the vocabulary struggles to support the task adequately, reflecting the Band 4 descriptor level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

Grammatical control is very weak. The text consists largely of massive, unpunctuated run-on sentences joined incorrectly by comma splices and conjunctions. There is a complete lack of control over complex sentence structures, and basic grammatical rules are frequently violated, such as subject-verb agreement ('everyone are not rich', 'every person do not afford'). Punctuation is largely absent or misused throughout the response. Frequent errors dominate the text and constantly strain the reader, fitting the Band 4 descriptor where errors are frequent and meaning is often distorted.

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

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