Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-25

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 6.0)

Some people believe that spending large amounts of money on the construction of high speed railway tracks is crucial to improve mobility between cities, While others argue that funds should be invested on existing public transport facilities. In my opinion, investment in modern transportation systems has several advantages for countries.

Fast transportation infrastructures such as high speed railway lines has a number of socio -economic and environmental benefits. From enonomic perspective, spending money on efficient trasportation means less expenditures on fuel and maintenance cost. Socially, it is convenient for people travelling across the country. Lastly, fast and efficient trains are considered environmently friendly options because of lesser individual emissions.

On the other hand, critics argue that upgrading existing roads and vehicles plays a similar role so there is no need of building new transport system from scratch. on unn instead of building new facilities such as modern transport modes. Asvocates believe that, instead of repairing existing elements of transport system, building modern infrastructure is one time investment. It means that effcient transport facilities save us large amount of money on operations and maintenance as compared to traditional roads and vehicles. In my opinion Although, both of the services play similar role but faster trains are worth the investment.

To sum-up, Building faster railways has mutiple benefits including environmental benefits, which makes it one of the best mode of transport. Moreover, the money spent will be paid off in the long run. In my opinion, the service will enable individuals and countries to save money passively.

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 expenditure and stating a clear personal opinion. The writer's position is maintained throughout the essay. Ideas are presented and supported, such as mentioning socio-economic and environmental benefits for high-speed trains, and maintenance cost arguments for existing systems. However, some of the supporting ideas feel slightly repetitive or under-developed, particularly in the third paragraph where phrasing becomes disjointed (e.g. 'on unn instead of building new facilities'). The conclusion successfully restates the main position. Overall, the task is adequately fulfilled, placing this response comfortably at band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression. Paragraphing is utilised to separate the introduction, body arguments, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'On the other hand,' 'Lastly,' and 'To sum-up.' However, there are some mechanical transitions and awkward phrasing within sentences that disrupt the smooth flow, such as 'on unn instead of building new facilities' and 'In my opinion Although, both of the services play similar role'. Referencing is mostly clear, but the logical flow suffers occasional disruptions due to editing slips and repetitive structures, leading to a band 6.0 performance.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, attempting less common terms such as 'socio -economic', 'infrastructure', and 'passively'. However, there are several spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'high speed' (hyphenation needed), 'enonomic', 'trasportation', 'environmently', and 'mutiple'. Some collocations are also slightly imprecise, such as 'paid off in the long run' or 'save us large amount of money'. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is not impeded, and the vocabulary is sufficient for band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar with structures like 'Some people believe that...' and 'Fast transportation infrastructures such as... has a number of...'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There is a subject-verb agreement error ('infrastructures... has'), missing articles ('from enonomic perspective'), and punctuation/capitalisation issues mid-sentence ('While others', 'on unn', 'In my opinion Although'). Furthermore, incomplete sentence structures in the third paragraph reduce clarity. These frequent errors across complex structures support a band 5.5 score.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.