Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-23

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)

Information today is the key driver of civilizations, contributing to the developments and innovations. To some people, sharing every bit of information might be more appealing and some may differ because of risks oversharing of data might impose.

Initially, sharing of information is observed as societal virtue. Public libraries and online platforms make availability to researchs, books and pamphlets that help students, researchers and businessman and many others. This ease of access if restricted can impose threat to literacy rate in the respective region. Thus, those with the perspective of information sharing are not entirely wrong and are just looking out to prevent illiteracy and to keep the source that anyone can refer to when in need. Furthermore this helps people to access information freely, in order to keep poverty from being a reason to stop the enthusiasts at some point.

Secondly, excess of knowledge can pose threats to societies or communities in different possible ways. Sharing of Defense or medicinal research publicly or at a platform where it is accessible by general public, can bring threats like bio weapons. Furthermore, this can threaten the moral and ethical values that a community might be promoting.

In my opinion, information should be shared vastly for the purpose of literacy and education. But there should be some boundaries, the extent to which and to whom specific kind of information can be shared. Goverments should protect their data that can be used against their policies or country and share sensitive information through reliable sources.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—the benefits of open information sharing and the risks associated with sensitive data—and provides a clear personal opinion in the conclusion. Ideas are relevant, such as mentioning public libraries and research accessibility, as well as the dangers of bio-weapons and breaches of national security. However, some arguments are slightly under-developed and would benefit from deeper extension and more specific examples. For instance, the discussion on defense research touches on important points but lacks elaboration. Overall, the prompt requirements are adequately fulfilled, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptor where all parts are addressed with relevant ideas, though some lack full development.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a discernible introduction, body paragraphs addressing each viewpoint, and a concluding stance. Paragraphing is utilised to separate distinct ideas, such as the benefits in paragraph two and the risks in paragraph three. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. Transitional phrases like 'Initially' and 'Secondly' are used, but referencing and logical flow between sentences occasionally feel abrupt, such as the transition into the discussion on defense research. Furthermore, the phrasing 'make availability to researchs' creates awkward cohesion within the sentence structure. Overall, the organisation shows logical progression, supporting a Band 6 score.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'civilizations', 'societal virtue', and 'enthusiasts'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'make availability to researchs' instead of 'make research available', and 'Goverments' containing a spelling error. The phrase 'excess of knowledge' is also slightly imprecise for the intended meaning of sensitive or unrestricted data. These lexical slips do not impede communication but demonstrate the limitations typical of a Band 6 performance, where vocabulary is adequate yet contains noticeable errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and varied structures, such as conditional and modal constructions ('there should be some boundaries, the extent to which...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation awkwardness, including article omissions and pluralisation mistakes like 'researchs'. Sentences such as 'This ease of access if restricted can impose threat to literacy rate' suffer from missing punctuation and awkward phrasing. While these errors occur regularly, they rarely impede overall communication, placing the grammatical control firmly within the Band 6 descriptor.

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