Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-20

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)

The people from various countries think on how to improve their transport system. Some people think to invest more money for introducing more transport resources and railway lines while some people think to use this money for the modification of already available transport instead of introducing new things.

According to such people who think of making new railway lines are a kind of best solution to improve traveling in their country. As, increasing number of population it makes travelling areas more crowded while when the number of railway lines are considerably increaded then passengers can easily travel. Such people think by creating more railway lines traveling become easy and more quickly due to availability of free routes.

The another point of view of people is to modify and improve the currently available local transport which is also a significant point to be think. According to them, if the transport that is already working is not enough advanced features then it is not beneficial of constructinf more railway lines. If the number of vehicles are limited then there is jo mean of increasing the number of railway lines.

On my opinion, firstly make the present transport system better and then mve to construct new railway lines. My point of view is that if the quantity and quality matches then any system runs more finely. For instance, there is 5 trains that travel from new york to London. All of them travel at their specific time and they all are super fast and modified then the routues become empty and passenger have to wait alit for next train, this happen when the railway tracks are increased but number of trains is still same.

The sumup is that both types of people are right on their point of view but it is good to make valnce between quality and quantity.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both proposals and state a clear preference: improve the current system first, then build new lines. The explanation that extra tracks are ineffective if there are too few trains is relevant, and your New York–London example attempts to illustrate this. However, the two views are not developed evenly: the case for high-speed rail is mainly that it reduces crowding and makes travel quicker, without explaining its wider benefits or giving a concrete example. Your argument for improving existing transport also needs clearer detail about what should be improved. The example is difficult to follow and does not convincingly support the point, so the response addresses the task but leaves some ideas under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, your opinion, and a conclusion. This makes the overall discussion easy to identify. Some progression is also signalled by phrases such as “According to” and “On my opinion.” However, links can feel mechanical, and references are sometimes unclear. For example, “According to such people” does not clearly identify which group is meant, while the example about trains and tracks is difficult to connect to the preceding claim. The conclusion repeats the general idea of balancing quality and quantity rather than drawing the discussion together. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each example explicitly to the point it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant transport vocabulary, including “railway lines,” “passengers,” “local transport,” and “transport system,” so the topic is generally clear. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes making the meaning harder to follow. Examples include “a kind of best solution,” “free routes,” “not beneficial of constructinf more railway lines,” and “make valnce between quality and quantity.” Spelling errors such as “increaded,” “routues,” and “alit” also reduce accuracy. Aim for precise phrases such as “a practical solution,” “available capacity,” and “balance service quality with network expansion,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a conditional structure in “if the transport that is already working is not enough advanced features then…” and a longer example beginning “For instance.” These attempts show some range, but complex sentences are often faulty, and errors can make relationships between ideas difficult to understand. For example, “As, increasing number of population it makes travelling areas more crowded” lacks a clear grammatical structure, while “The another point of view of people is…” has problems with articles and sentence construction. There are also recurring agreement and verb-form errors, as in “the number of vehicles are limited” and “traveling become easy.” Practise building accurate clauses before extending them with extra information.

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

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