Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Write about the following topic: Some people believe that it is good to share as much information as possible in scientific research, business and the academic world. Others believe that some information is too important or too valuable to be shared freely. 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 this contemporary era, there are plenty of new things and data available which are not being public yet. However, there are two groups of individuals who argue that one thinks facts related to science, business and academics should be shared, while the other believes that this information is too precious to reveal in front of the world. Both the views are discussed in further paragraphs, and my opinion is mentioned in the end.

To begin with, the more results of research on different sectors aid people in gaining knowledge. Mainly, it is beneficial for students to learn curriculums that depend on recent theories. For example, the government of Ireland creates a team of scientists to do research on dinosaur fossils, and they succeed in it, and from the next day, the government starts printing books for students which have the information of actual research. Moreover, the people who are running their business or want to start will get to know helpful and unexpected ideas and be able to organise their enterprise much better; it helps to gain the business and provides quality contacts to develop.

To contrast, it is not mandatory that every theory has merits only, and individuals benefit after knowing about that; some might have cons, which is not good for people to know. Furthermore, a number of facts are not well explained to the world, and after that, humans misunderstand them, which affects them later in life. For instance, scientific research was published by London University related to the use of acid, but that was just a summary, not the entire theory, but people apply it in their real lives, and some very serious cases related to acid harmfulness were created.

To conclude, the sharing of precious ideas with people is not so good if it is not well explained to the individuals. However, it is better for students to know about actual and recent studies and for business people to expand their businesses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a personal opinion, satisfying the requirements of the prompt. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. The example regarding dinosaur fossils is a bit simplistic, and the argument about acid research is vague, lacking a clear connection to the broader debate on information sharing. While the position is clear, the supporting arguments could be more thoroughly extended to reach a higher band. The conclusion is brief and does not fully synthesize the arguments presented in the body paragraphs.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Moreover', 'To contrast', and 'To conclude' are used to guide the reader. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as in the phrase 'after that, humans misunderstand them'. While the overall progression is logical, the use of cohesive devices could be more varied and natural to improve the flow of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at using less common vocabulary, such as 'contemporary era' and 'enterprise', but the range is somewhat limited. Some word choices are slightly unnatural or imprecise, such as 'not being public yet' instead of 'not yet in the public domain' or 'gain the business' instead of 'gain a competitive advantage'. Spelling is generally accurate, but the lexical range needs to be expanded to demonstrate more precision and sophistication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'one thinks facts... should be shared' (which is slightly awkward), 'the more results of research... aid people', and 'some very serious cases... were created'. Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some issues with sentence boundaries and article usage. The control of complex structures is inconsistent, and the errors occasionally require the reader to re-read to grasp the intended meaning.

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

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