Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-24

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 6.0)

While some advocate that open-source contribution is highly beneficial for expanding the technological efficiency of the modern world, I completely disagree with this assertion because I think these datasets have significant economic value, and important for digital security.

On the one hand, there are several reasons why people want to open-source everything. One possible reason is that this information is the key to development. Open-source collaboration can boost the innovations and prevent the researchers for wasting their time on preparing datasets or starting from the scratch, which ultimately allows the innovators to work seamlessly. Moreover, by accessing the massive amount of resources for freely, individuals can enhance their sets of expertise and positively impact the society. For example, the students who are new in the research field, the open-source datasets are massively increase their research productivity, resulting in a useful research project.

On the other hand, there are several reasons why I hold this view. The detrimental cause in digital security is one of my main concerns. Unrestricted sharing of private data can severely compromise individuals' digital security. Consequently, hackers can use them for unauthorize tasks. Another important reason is that the economic value of the data. Personally, I think every data has a value. The researchers or industries can generate massive amount of corporate revenue using the open-source data. Therefore, the creator of the datasets deserves a partial share. For instance, exposing critical business information online would be detrimental for the company itself.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that although open contribution has significant impact for the rapid advancements of the technology and can make huge corporate profits, contributors rarely get any benefits from this.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. While the benefits of open-source data are discussed, the explanation of why information is 'too valuable' to share is a bit repetitive, focusing heavily on corporate revenue. The conclusion does not fully synthesize the arguments presented, as it focuses primarily on the lack of benefits for contributors rather than summarizing the broader tension between innovation and security. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is fully extended with more nuanced examples.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Moreover', and 'Consequently' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing; for example, in the second paragraph, the phrase 'the students who are new in the research field, the open-source datasets are massively increase' lacks a clear grammatical connection to the rest of the sentence. Overall, the progression of ideas is easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task, with some attempts at topic-specific language like 'open-source contribution', 'technological efficiency', and 'corporate revenue'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'detrimental cause' instead of 'major concern', 'unauthorize tasks' instead of 'unauthorized purposes', and 'for freely' instead of 'freely'. These errors do not impede communication, but they highlight a need for more precise control over word forms and collocations to reach a higher band.

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, particularly with verb forms and sentence construction. Examples include 'prevent the researchers for wasting' (should be 'from wasting'), 'starting from the scratch' (should be 'from scratch'), and 'datasets are massively increase' (should be 'massively increase'). Additionally, there are issues with article usage and pluralization. While these errors rarely impede understanding, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.