Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-01

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)

Every country have its own speciality, some of them are better in public transports while some are very good in railways. Each country have public transports but some are in better condition while some are in worse.

People have their own opinions about this case. A lot of people think that the government should spend money on constructing new railway lines for very fast trains, this is not a bad idea because many of them move to another cities by the use of trains. Trains are the fastest source of teleportation in a country and millions of people use trains and they need to be improved in many ways. It helps many people to reach their destinations in a low time. Other source of teleportations such as buses, taxi, cabs are also used by many people but the conditon of these vehicles are not in a good condition and many people suffer from them. The condition of the roads are miserable in low developed countries and they needs to be enhanced immediatly.

Although trains in many countries are in a better condition as compared to other vehicles .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response sits at this level because it only partially addresses the task. Furthermore, the length requirement has not been met, as the response contains only 188 words, falling well short of the 250-word minimum. While the student touches upon both views regarding fast trains and existing public transport, the ideas are very limited and underdeveloped. For instance, the mention of 'teleportation' is imprecise, and the position is not clearly maintained throughout the short text. To move to a higher band, the writer must ensure the word count requirement is fully satisfied, extend their arguments with specific examples, and address all parts of the prompt in greater depth.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 3.5

Coherence and cohesion are restricted here due to limited organisational control. The response lacks clear overall progression and proper paragraphing, as the text essentially consists of a single block of loosely connected sentences rather than distinct paragraphs for each view. Cohesive devices are basic and repetitive, such as 'some of them' and 'other source of', which makes the transitions between ideas mechanical. Referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly with pronouns like 'them' referring back to ambiguous nouns. To improve, the writer needs to structure the essay into clear paragraphs—introduction, body paragraphs discussing each view with a distinct opinion, and a conclusion—while employing a wider variety of cohesive ties to connect ideas logically.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for the task, demonstrating basic word choices such as 'better condition', 'worse', and 'bad idea'. There are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, most notably the use of 'teleportation' instead of 'transportation' or 'transit', and 'low developed countries' instead of 'developing countries'. Spelling and word form errors, such as 'conditon' and 'immediatly', appear in the text. Although these errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict the range of vocabulary. To achieve a higher score, the student should incorporate a broader range of less common lexical items, pay closer attention to collocations, and eliminate spelling mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

This criterion reflects a limited range of sentence structures with frequent grammatical errors that can occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. There are persistent issues with subject-verb agreement, as seen in 'Every country have' and 'Each country have', as well as pluralisation errors like 'public transports' and 'The condition of the roads are'. Attempts at complex sentences often result in faulty structures, such as comma splices and run-on sentences ('Other source of teleportations such as buses, taxi, cabs are also used by many people but the conditon of these vehicles are not in a good condition'). To progress, the writer must improve basic grammatical accuracy, particularly subject-verb agreement and plural forms, while attempting a wider variety of accurate complex sentence structures.

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

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