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)

In many countries, few people think spending large amount of money on constructing new railway lines for fast trains between cities and other think that it is not necessary to spend large amount of budget on new railway lines rather they can improve the existing public transport. Overall, the concept of both sides is fair to some extend.

In my opinon, spending money on railway lines is a good decision, so the travel time between cities decrease. By spending money on new fast railway lines, people can travel in very less time rather they spend half of their time in traveling on train. As, time is money and it is most important fir everyone. When government spend budget in fast railways, people prefer to travel with trains because they are less time taking and it will be very helpful for our environment, when the amount of cars on road decreases, the amount of carbon emission from vehicles exhaust also decreases. For example, In Japan people use high speed trains to travel from one city to another.

Spending money on existing public transport is also important, but this is majorly important inside the cities, where people need to travel from one area to another inside the city. When government improve their public transport, it automatically decrease the road traffic. But unfortunately, we cannot use public transport to travel from one city to another. Although public transport is also a important part of the city. Spending money on public transport is also important. In developed countires, they improve their both systems. For example, In Europe especially in Germany their public transport system is well developed people use this system for their everday treansport.

In the end, both systems have their own importance as high speed train decrease the travel time between cities and make the travel budget friendly also and public transport makes everyday commute easy and environment friendly. Government need to focus on both sides.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both options and give a clear preference for investment in high-speed rail, explaining its potential to reduce intercity travel time and car emissions. You also recognise the value of local public transport and support this with examples from Japan and Germany, so the response addresses the main parts of the task. However, the discussion is only partly developed: the case for improving existing transport is mostly limited to reducing traffic and helping city travel, while the benefits and limitations of each investment are not explored in much detail. The opening claim that “few people think” this spending is necessary also does not accurately frame the two views in the prompt. Develop each side with more specific reasoning and make your position more consistently explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a concluding summary. This helps the reader follow the broad direction of the argument, and transitions such as “Although” and “In the end” signal relationships between ideas. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes repetitive or abrupt. For example, the paragraph on local transport repeats that spending on it is important, and “But unfortunately” introduces a limitation without fully explaining why it matters to the comparison. Some links are also unclear, such as the shift from reduced travel time to environmental benefits in the first body paragraph. Organise each paragraph around a clear main point, then explain and illustrate it before moving to the next idea.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “high speed trains,” “public transport,” “road traffic,” and “carbon emission.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions such as “everyday commute” and “travel time between cities.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, including “large amount of budget,” “very less time,” and “less time taking.” Spelling errors such as “opinon,” “countires,” and “treansport” also reduce accuracy. These issues do not prevent the reader from understanding the overall argument, but more precise transport and investment vocabulary would make it clearer and more natural. Check spelling and learn common collocations as complete phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and longer sentences, including a conditional structure in “When government improve their public transport” and a contrast introduced by “Although.” However, complex sentences are often not controlled accurately, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences awkward to read. Examples include “the travel time between cities decrease,” “people prefer to travel with trains,” and “their public transport system is well developed people use this system,” where agreement, sentence boundaries, or grammatical structure need attention. Articles and plurals are also inconsistent, as in “a important part” and “both systems.” Practise subject–verb agreement, article use, and punctuation between independent clauses; shorter, accurately formed sentences will help you express the ideas more clearly.

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