Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-11-02

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)

As it is briefly discussed in paragraph in some countries, some people thought it is important to spend sustainable money on building new railway lines for very fast trains between cities and some peolple believe ,money should be spend on public transportation.In my opinion both sitauations are correct becuse both are the ways for travel pupose but same time if we focus more impotant will be improving and upgrading existing public transport.

Although, if government spend large amount of money on railway lines it can be beneficial to evey individuals because fast trains saves more valuable time of the people as well as if trains became fast people will use trains more and more which will directly effect in rise of economic growth morever ,this will help in encouraging tourism also peolpe will never depend on domestic flights.

on the other hand, it will be more benficial compare to constuction of railway lines ,millons of people rely on buses ,metro,local trains for thier dailylife journey however if government should address these problem like crowd,irregural schedules ,poorly maintanance then i think it could became far better to use public transpotation and in cheap price.additionally using of public transportation can be benefical becuse it does not cause more pollution and traffic congestion and this could help to get mitiate people from disease caused by air pollution.

In coclusion, athough high - speed railways can improve connectivity and support economic growth,i strongly believe that government should more focus on tanspotaion because people more travel by public transportation everyday instead of railway and it might be beneficial for larger proportion of society.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both views and give a clear preference for improving existing public transport, especially in the introduction and conclusion. The discussion of high-speed rail includes relevant benefits—saving time, supporting economic growth and tourism, and reducing reliance on domestic flights. You also identify practical problems with current services, such as crowding and irregular schedules. However, these points are not developed equally: the public-transport argument would be stronger with a specific example or explanation of how upgrades would benefit more people, while the claim about pollution and disease needs clearer support. The response therefore covers the task, but some ideas remain general or under-explained.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, one paragraph for each view, and a conclusion that restates your position. Connectors such as “Although,” “on the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help signal the main stages. However, some links are mechanical or do not fit the sentence structure—for example, “Although” begins a paragraph without a contrasting main clause, and “however” is placed awkwardly in the public-transport paragraph. Several ideas are crowded into long sentences, making the progression harder to follow. Use clearer sentence boundaries and connect each supporting point explicitly to the paragraph’s main claim.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt topic-specific vocabulary, including “economic growth,” “tourism,” “traffic congestion,” and “public transportation,” which helps communicate the main ideas. However, spelling errors and imprecise or unnatural combinations are noticeable, including “sustainable money,” “valuable time,” “cheap price,” and “mitiate people from disease.” These sometimes make the intended meaning difficult to interpret. There is also repetition of general terms such as “beneficial” and “people.” Aim for accurate collocations and a wider range of precise transport-related language; carefully proofreading spelling would also make your ideas easier to understand.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional and cause-and-effect structures, as in “if trains became fast people will use trains more.” However, control is inconsistent, and several sentences contain errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, or sentence construction. For example, “if government spend” needs a correctly formed subject and verb, while “fast trains saves” has a subject–verb agreement problem. The opening sentence is also difficult to follow because several clauses are joined without clear punctuation. Practise building shorter, complete sentences first, then check verb agreement and tense consistency when adding subordinate clauses.

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