Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-24

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 a numerous countries, some people believe it's necessary to spend huge amount of money on building new railway lines for extremely fast train between cities, while others feel the money should be spent in upgrading existing public transport.

Overall, spending a large sum of money on constructing new railway track is very necessary because it will fasten the rail movement between the cities, although it will affect the budget of the state. However, spending money to improve other existing public transport will very vital because it will reduce danger and improve the economy of the states.

Moreover,spending a large sum to construct a new raiway among towns deepen the relationship between both citie, and will also make rail journey feel smoote and stress free but it can deprieve the community other developments. For example, maintaining the already existing railway will save them some amount of money which they can invest in other important things.

Furthermore, inevsting money to upgrade an exiting public transport is more vital because it will bring more job opportunities to the people, it can also help to enrich the citizens, like providing a room for revenue. Moreover, upgrading the already existing public transport will attract tourisms. For instance, many visitors will be coming to the park when it become more popular. Again it will help to reduce the number of accident happening in our roads.

In conclusion, although spending a large sum of money to construct a new railway lines will help make our trains move faster between cities but i strongly believe that improving the already existing public transport is of more benefit to the people.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—spending on new high-speed rail versus upgrading existing public transport—and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant, but some points, such as the economic impacts, are somewhat generalised and under-developed due to limited supporting detail. For instance, the mention that upgrading transport 'will bring more job opportunities' is stated without explaining how. However, the overall task requirements are met adequately, placing the response solidly in Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised to separate distinct ideas, such as the discussion of new railways in the second and third body paragraphs versus existing transport in the fourth. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'moreover', 'furthermore', and 'again'. Referencing is generally clear, though the logical progression within paragraphs could be smoother and more sophisticated to reach higher bands, making Band 6.0 an appropriate score.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'revenue', 'deprieve' (deprive), and 'tourisms' (tourism). However, there are notable word choice and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'In a numerous countries', 'fasten' instead of 'speed up', 'raiway', 'smoote', 'inevsting', and 'tourisms'. Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear and communication is not severely impeded, which aligns with the descriptors for Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over structure. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including missing articles ('in upgrading existing public transport'), preposition errors ('spent in upgrading'), subject-verb agreement issues ('when it become more popular'), and typographical slips. While these errors are noticeable and require the reader to occasionally adjust, they do not completely impede communication, corresponding to a Band 5.0 score.

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

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