Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-13

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)

In many parts of the world people believe that large amount of money should be spent on constructing new railway lines between cities for faster transportation while there is another group that believe capital should be spent on improving existing infrastructure rather than building new railway lines.Both these point of views are supported with corresponding supporting arguments.

Some individuals think the distance between cities should be cut off by time with help of new railway lines. A shortest path possible should be selected to narrow down the current time taken during transporation.They beleive it is only possible solution to minimize time of travel as old railway tracks can not be modified any further to achieve this task. Although new railway lines would definitely reduce the time of travel but on the other hand they are too expensive to build.

The other group support the vision of improving existing public transport as they are lot of shortcomings which can be handled in present transport to cut off travelling time. Modern technology can be incorporated in present means of transport for faster commute. They believe railway tracks can be altered to support smoother travel and trains engines should be taken care of for better performance.Also other public transport should be updated whereever possible for high end performance.

Although both arguments have their merits and demerits but later is more feasible as it can be achieved with little cost and effort. Building new railway lines is very costly and requires lot of labour and machinery. A whole track should be cleaned in order to build a new railway track.While improving existing public transport is highly possible with better strategy and management.It will cut cost of new lines and also help make better use of already present railway tracks and other public transport.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both views and give a clear preference for improving existing transport, especially in the final paragraph. The discussion of new rail lines includes a relevant benefit—reducing travel time—and recognises their high cost; the opposing view is supported with ideas about upgrading tracks, engines and other transport. However, some points are asserted rather than explained. For example, the claim that old tracks “can not be modified any further” is not reconciled with the later argument that tracks can be altered, and the benefits of faster inter-city trains could be developed with a concrete example. Your opinion is clear, but explaining the trade-offs more fully and supporting claims with specific evidence would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction, one paragraph for each view, and a conclusion stating your preference. Topic sentences such as “Some individuals think…” and “The other group support…” help readers follow the discussion, and linking expressions including “Although” and “While” show relationships between ideas. This meets the lower-band expectation of clear overall organisation and also shows some flexibility in linking. However, cohesion is occasionally mechanical, with repeated references to “the other group” and repeated use of “also.” Some transitions within paragraphs are abrupt, and the final paragraph repeats cost points without clearly distinguishing them. Use clearer referencing and connect each supporting reason directly to the claim it explains.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “railway lines,” “public transport,” “infrastructure,” “commute,” and “strategy and management,” so the main ideas are generally understandable. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “incorporated” and “feasible.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, including “cut off by time,” “a shortest path,” “high end performance,” and “a whole track should be cleaned.” Spelling slips such as “transporation,” “beleive,” and “whereever” also reduce control. Build a more reliable set of transport collocations and check spelling; this will make your vocabulary more precise and natural without requiring unnecessarily complex words.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and complex sentences, including contrast clauses with “Although” and “While,” and most of the argument remains understandable. Some sentence structures are controlled, such as “Building new railway lines is very costly and requires lot of labour and machinery.” However, errors in agreement, articles, sentence boundaries and punctuation recur. For example, “some people think” is followed by “there is another group that believe,” and “Although both arguments have their merits and demerits but…” combines two contrasting constructions incorrectly. Several sentences also run together, as in “performance.Also other public transport…”. Review subject–verb agreement, article use, and punctuation around clauses, while continuing to practise complex sentences.

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