Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Nowadays transport has emerged as a sector most governments are keen to improve in their nations to an advanced level. In various nations, some individuals argue that they should evolve the current public tansport model, while others argue that it is important to have additional railway tracks across cities and large funds should be allocated for that. In this essay, i will discuss both perspective before making a statement regarding my opinion.

On one hand, people believe that a massive budget shoul be spent on the new railway lines which is necessary to have. Through, various railway tracks, people may find it more covinient to travel across different cities, for instance all across Europe people have been enjoying the train lines for decades, which goes all around the continent. Moreover, this could also be a budget option for the residents of the country to travel around cities as it would be subsidised by the Government itself, so it could be encouraged among people instead of using their own cars. This could also become a cause of employment in country side areas where these specific ways would be constructed and they could posibly be employed for many vacanccies which could be for example a ticket manager in the railway station or a cleaning staff etc.

On the Other hand, some believe it would be more significant if the money is spent on the improvement of the existing public transport rather than new railways . This could be a better choice as advancement in this sector will result in people having a faster way to travel from one place to another, for instance Japan has bullet trains in this field which is used by many there to move along the cities in incredibly lower time than the typical trains. Furthermore, building new highways like ring roads around the city could help the passenger to escape the traffic of centre of cities and eventually reach the desired place bypassing all the hustle.

In conclusion, In my opinion, it can be concluded that spendind heavily on new railway tracks between cities could result as muc better deacision as even now many people are adapted to the Railway as their daily used means of transport and would continue to use that as well. However, it could be really early to bring the advancement in the public transport as many individuals are still not aware with the techonolgy and are less likely to have believe on them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both proposed approaches and give a preference for new intercity railway lines, so the main parts of the task are present. The first body paragraph gives relevant reasons, including easier travel, reduced reliance on cars and employment; the second considers improvements to existing transport. However, the comparison is not fully clear: the Japan bullet-train example appears under the argument for improving existing transport, although it seems to support high-speed rail, and the ring-road example shifts from public transport to roads. Your conclusion also introduces the unclear claim that people are “less likely to have believe” in technology. Develop each side with more precise, directly relevant support and state your position consistently.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “On one hand,” “On the Other hand,” and “In conclusion” helps readers follow the intended progression. However, some links between examples and the point they are meant to support are unclear. The Japan example seems to describe fast rail rather than general improvements to existing public transport, while the ring-road point moves away from public transport. Several sentences also carry multiple ideas, making the reasoning harder to track. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each example explicitly to the paragraph’s argument; avoid relying on formulaic transitions alone.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “subsidised,” “advancement,” “railway tracks,” and “bypass,” which helps convey ideas about transport and infrastructure. However, the range is not consistently controlled, and noticeable spelling and word-choice errors sometimes make the meaning less clear. Examples include “covinient,” “vacanccies,” “deacision,” and “techonolgy”; phrases such as “budget option” and “a cause of employment” are also unnatural in context. Some wording is vague, including “these specific ways” and “this field.” Choose precise transport terms, check spelling carefully, and learn common collocations so your ideas sound more natural and exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “which,” “as,” and “where,” and most of the argument remains understandable. However, some sentence structures are faulty or difficult to follow. For example, “Through, various railway tracks” is not a complete, well-formed opening, and “which goes all around the continent” has an unclear reference and agreement with the plural “train lines.” There are also errors in verb forms and sentence construction, such as “it can be concluded that spendind heavily … could result as.” Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent, particularly in “On the Other hand” and “In conclusion, In my opinion.” Aim for clearer sentence boundaries and check agreement, verb patterns, and punctuation.

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