Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-30

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)

Some people believe that it is good to share as much information as possible in scientific research, business and the academic world. I think these people are right to some extend because, sharing is great for learning, but we still need to protect important secrets for safety and business.

Why sharing information is good:

When scientists, schools and business share their work to others it will be very helpful for the society. People can learn from them and it might be helpful in their own business. When you teach other people from your experience you will definately learn some extra things because knowledge grows from sharing. For example when scientists will share their experience and researchs with people it will be result in research of new medicines. Working together can solve big problems.

Why keeping secrets is necessary:

However, some informations cannot be shared with public. In business, companies need to protect their unique ideas so that other countries cannot steal them. Scientist cannot share those informations with the public which are dangerous for the society. Special officers should not share the secrets of their country to the people because it will be very dangerous for the soverity of their country. On the other hand, sharing information about dangerous technology can put the people and nation in danger.

Conclusion:

In my opinion, sharing information and keeping secrets both are good but not for everything. In educational field sharing information is good and on the other hand sharing secret informations of the country is not good because it can put people in danger.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the views in favour of sharing information freely and the arguments for keeping certain information secret, while also providing a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant, such as mentioning the acceleration of medical research through collaboration and the need to protect corporate intellectual property and national security. However, some arguments are slightly repetitive or under-developed, such as the sudden shift to discussing 'special officers' and national sovereignty, which strays slightly from the core prompt of scientific research, business, and the academic world. Despite these minor limitations, the main positions are sufficiently extended, earning a solid Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement and follows a recognisable structure with an introduction, distinct body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The writer makes an attempt at paragraphing with explicit headings, though using subheadings like 'Why sharing information is good:' is unconventional and slightly mechanical for an IELTS essay. Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes rather simply or repetitively (e.g., 'When...', 'However...', 'On the other hand'). Referencing is generally clear, but logical progression between sentences occasionally feels disjointed, particularly in the conclusion where ideas are summarised somewhat abruptly. Overall, the organisational framework supports the flow of information adequately, placing it at a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate their main arguments clearly. There are attempts to use less common or topic-specific vocabulary such as 'intellectual property', 'sovereignty', and 'collaboration', though the writer actually used simpler phrases like 'protect their unique ideas'. Several lexical errors and awkward collocations occur throughout the text, such as 'to some extend' (extent), 'some informations' (information is uncountable), 'educational field' (educational sector/field), and 'researchs' (research is uncountable). Spelling errors are also present, such as 'definately' and 'soverity'. These errors indicate a limited yet minimally adequate lexical resource that generally does not impede overall communication, fitting Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and temporal clauses (e.g., 'When scientists, schools and business share their work to others it will be very helpful...'). However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb tense consistency, article use, and prepositional collocations, such as 'share their work to others' (with others), 'Scientist cannot share' (Scientists), and 'put the people and nation in danger' (people and nations). Punctuation is also occasionally neglected, particularly regarding comma splices and missing commas after introductory clauses. While complex forms are attempted, errors are frequent enough to cause occasional difficulty or distraction for the reader, aligning closely with the Band 5.0 descriptors.

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