Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-28

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Nowadays, many medical research projects are funded by private companies. In your opinion, do you think that research should be carried by private companies, individuals or government?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.0)

It is often argued that the administration should allocate funds to the railway system rather than roads. I strongly agree with this view that rail transport is able to reduce traffic congestion while providing a more efficient and environmentally sustainable means of travelling and cost-effective.

The primary reason for my position is that rail networks have the ability to carry thousands of passengers at once. This is particularly important because it helps to reduce the number of cars on roads. As a consequence, traffic congestion is increasingly alleviated, allowing people to travel from one place to another more efficiently. For example, investing in rail transport can reduce traffic congestion because thousands of passengers can choose rail over private cars. Not only that, rail networks are quite eco-friendly because when the number of vehicles is reduced it also helps to decrease the carbon emissions. As a result, the world becomes more environmentally sustainable and has a significant impact on minimizing climate change.

Another factor worth considering is that rail transport gives every individual the chance to save their money. Moreover, train journeys are more cost-effective than private vehicles because it is able to carry thousands of passengers at once. As a result, each person pays a smaller amount of money which is impossible for private vehicles. In addition, rail transport is safer than road transport because trains generally experience fewer serious accidents than road transport. As a consequence, people can travel from one place to another more safely and efficiently.

To conclude, government should invest in railways rather than roads because they reduces traffic congestion, saves money and ensures safe journeys. These are beneficial for individuals and the planet by mitigating global warming.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 1.0

The response is completely off-topic. The prompt asks for an opinion on who should fund medical research (private companies, individuals, or government), but the essay discusses the allocation of funds to the railway system versus roads. Because the response fails to address the prompt entirely, it cannot be assessed for task development or position. According to IELTS criteria, a response that is completely unrelated to the task must be penalised heavily in Task Achievement. While the ideas are coherent within the context of the essay written, they do not answer the question posed in the prompt, resulting in a very low score for this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is well-structured with clear paragraphing and logical progression. Each paragraph has a clear topic sentence, and cohesive devices such as 'The primary reason for', 'As a consequence', 'Moreover', and 'To conclude' are used effectively to link ideas. Despite the content being irrelevant to the prompt, the internal organisation of the text is logical and easy to follow. The writer demonstrates a good ability to sequence arguments and maintain a consistent flow of information throughout the response, which is a strength in terms of structural control.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is generally appropriate and demonstrates a sufficient range for the task. Phrases such as 'traffic congestion', 'environmentally sustainable', 'carbon emissions', and 'mitigating global warming' are used accurately. There is some repetition of basic structures, but the lexical choices are generally precise and contribute to the clarity of the writing. The student shows an ability to use topic-specific vocabulary, even though the topic chosen is incorrect for the given prompt. There are no significant spelling or word-choice errors that impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There is good control over grammar, with few errors. For example, 'rail networks have the ability to carry thousands of passengers at once' is a well-formed complex sentence. There are minor slips, such as 'government should invest' (missing an article) and 'they reduces' (subject-verb agreement error). However, these errors are infrequent and do not impede the reader's understanding. The punctuation is generally accurate, and the overall grammatical control is quite strong, suggesting a level of proficiency that would be effective if applied to the correct topic.

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