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)

There are two types of suggestions among people of various countries, according to proponents of one type of community consider the consumption of large amount of money to construct new railway lines to speed up fast railway service, while oppnents of this view that development in the existing transport sytem is essential through huge investment. While considering the significance of expansion of railway tracks is crucial in term of low railway fares and possibility of facilities of carrying passangers and trade luggage in all local areas of a country, but making the large investment on network of roads is very important on account of vast communication network with all areas of countries and provision of employment oppurunites in all over the countries.

First of all, the spending of money on development of railways and expansion of riaway tracks all over the country enables all the citizen of a country to travelat low cost and reach their destination without waste of time as there will be no problem of traffic congestion. If a worker living in suburb can reach at his office in one hour without changes two route buses, that might take two hours to reach.Secondly, the expansion of raiway network not only faciltates the passnagers as well as large amount of luggage could be transfered from one place to another place without making any rush og heavy vehicles on road. for instance transport of trade commodities among cities sometime cause traffic jam in morning hours of schools and offices working.

On the other hand, huge investment on public tranports is much favoured as by increasing land routes remote areas of a country would be easily conneted, especially the areas of a country that are situated on hilly areas where railawys tracks are not possible. so in some places only land routs are posiible that can be connected by public transports. Secondly, the connection of all under-developed regions of a country can move a large amount of wrkforce from these areas to cities. In this way, expansion of employment will raise the living standard of all areas of a country. By incresing public transport, people of remote villages and town can also avail the fcalities of cities by mtravelling through public transport.

In conclusion, the role of expansion of railway track is very important in term of affrdabilty and movemnt of more physical and human capital, but the spread of public transport enables more area to be conneted even area where public ralway network is not possible, even it would provide more workfoce and enhance employment oppourtunites all over the country.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both proposed approaches and give a comparative conclusion: rail expansion is linked to affordability and moving passengers and goods, while improved public transport is presented as a way to reach remote or hilly areas and support employment. These are relevant points, so the response addresses the main parts of the task. However, your own position is not consistently clear: the opening weighs both options, and the conclusion again lists benefits without firmly stating which investment you favour or how the two should be balanced. Several claims, such as employment rising through transport expansion, need clearer explanation or a specific example. Develop each view with more precise reasoning and state your opinion directly throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph supporting railway investment, a contrasting paragraph on public transport, and a conclusion. Sequencing phrases such as “First of all,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the broad progression. However, some connections are mechanical, and the opening sentence is difficult to follow because several ideas are packed together. Within paragraphs, examples and explanations sometimes run into one another; for instance, the worker’s journey example is not clearly separated from the point about rail access. Use shorter, more focused topic sentences, make references explicit, and connect each example directly to the claim it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “traffic congestion,” “under-developed regions,” “remote areas,” and “living standard,” which helps communicate the subject. There are also efforts to use more formal expressions such as “huge investment” and “expansion of employment.” However, inaccurate word choice, collocation, and spelling are frequent enough to make parts of the argument harder to read, as in “consumption of large amount of money,” “trade luggage,” and “facilities of cities.” Repeated use of “expansion,” “large,” and “important” also limits precision. Choose more natural transport-related phrases and check spelling carefully; accurate, straightforward vocabulary will be more effective than ambitious but unclear wording.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt complex sentences, including clauses beginning with “While,” “If,” and “where,” and you use some simple sentences to explain examples. However, complex structures are often faulty, and frequent errors in sentence formation, agreement, articles, and punctuation sometimes make meaning difficult to follow. For example, “While considering … is crucial …, but making … is very important” combines incompatible sentence patterns, while “all the citizen … enables” has an agreement problem. Several sentences also run together without clear punctuation, such as the worker example and the following “Secondly” point. Practise building one complete main clause at a time, then add subordinate clauses and check that subjects and verbs agree.

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