Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-17

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 5.0)

Nowadays, Some people think to spend large sum of money on constructing new railway lines for very fast trains.Others believes that money should be spent on improving existing public transport.I believe that improving existing public transport is a good opinion.In this essay, I explore both views and provide my opinion.

On the one hand,some believes that spending a lot of money in the construction of railway lines for fast trains because train journey is more comfortable. When they make new lines for fast trains its a good thing for workers,students and everyone. Train journey is too fast.People can reach in their destination on time and very quickly.Specially for students and employes beacuse in nowadays there are lot of traffic in roads people can not reach their destination on time through road.For example, In Pakistan's city Lahore government spent a large money in orange train because of too much trafic in roads.

On the other hand, Others believe that money should be spent on improving public transport because some people use public transport because they can not use train due to some reasons and our buses is too much uncomfortable and roads are also not good. People who travel in these buses or wagons they do not feel better bcz of unsightly buses.For instance, People who use public transport they have too much health issues because of bad system.

In my opinion, Government spent a lot money in railway lines and trains. Its a good facility for people but its also very important to improve public transport first because mostly people use public transport in their daily life routine.

To conclude, both building railway lines and improving public transport.Firstly, improve public transport for people because its help a large number of peoples in their daily lives.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both sides of the discussion and state a preference for improving public transport, while also acknowledging that fast trains can offer quicker journeys and help people avoid road traffic. The Lahore example gives the first view some relevant support. However, the discussion remains limited: the benefits of new rail lines are asserted rather than explained in depth, and the point about health issues from poor buses is not clearly connected to specific effects. Your position also shifts slightly: you first call improving transport your preference, then say the government should spend a lot on railways, before concluding that public transport should be improved first. Make this priority consistent and develop each view with a clearer reason or example. (The response meets the stated length requirement.)

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, an opinion paragraph and a conclusion. This gives the reader a basic structure, and signposts such as “On the one hand” and “On the other hand” help identify the discussion. However, progression within paragraphs is often weak: several short claims about fast trains follow one another without showing how they connect, and the public-transport paragraph moves from comfort to health issues without a clear explanation. Linking phrases are also repetitive, while references such as “they” and “its” can be unclear. Build each paragraph around one main point, explain it, and then add a relevant example; use linking expressions selectively and make references explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “railway lines,” “public transport,” “traffic” and “destination.” There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “comfortable” and “health issues.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, which sometimes makes the meaning less clear. For example, “spend a large money” and “reach in their destination” are not natural combinations, and “unsightly buses” does not clearly express the intended problem of discomfort. Spelling errors such as “employes,” “beacuse” and “trafic” are noticeable. Learn common transport collocations and check spelling; more precise wording will make your arguments easier to follow.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

Most sentences rely on simple patterns, and attempts to combine ideas often contain errors. For example, “some believes” has a subject–verb agreement problem, while “When they make new lines for fast trains its a good thing” lacks correct punctuation and sentence structure. Verb forms and articles are also inconsistent, as in “Government spent a lot money” and “our buses is.” These errors recur and can make the reader pause, although the overall meaning is usually recoverable. Practise accurate simple sentences first, especially agreement, articles and verb forms, then add controlled complex structures using “because,” “although” or “which.” Check sentence boundaries and apostrophes during proofreading.

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