Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-19

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)

Many individuals think that information should be shared as much as possible in scientific research, business, and the academic world. Some argue that certain information is too important or too valuable to share it with others. Although both perspectives have merit, I believe that information should be shared as much as possible for further development and progress.

On the one hand, sharing information to the greatest extent possible will help others in scientific research, business and the academic world. The discoveries and inventions sped up after people started sharing information. I believe that the foremost invention of mankind is printing. The number of inventions that happened before and after printing has a substantial difference. Printing made it easier for people to spread their ideas as much as possible. It allowed people to read certain inventions and discoveries and try to make them better. As a result, mankind saw rapid progress in scientific research, business and the academic world. People share information about scientific research, their business strategies and the academic world through printed books.

On the other hand, it is also true that certain information is sometimes too valuable and too important to share it with others. For example, that information could be used to create dangerous weapons. People would not want the information of how to build a nuclear bomb in the hands of terrorist organizations. Businessmen would not want their business strategies to leak to their competitors, as they can face a huge financial loss.

To conclude, I believe that information should be shared with people, as it helps in swift progress. However, not every piece of information should be shared with everyone.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both views and state a clear opinion: sharing information supports “further development and progress,” while some material should not be available to everyone. The printing example is relevant, and the nuclear-weapons and business-secrecy examples address reasons for restricting access. However, the discussion is only partly developed: the claim that printing accelerated progress is asserted rather than supported with a specific illustration, and the risks of sharing are listed without exploring how they might be balanced against openness. The response contains 241 words, so it is 9 words below the 250-word minimum; 34 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. Develop each side with more explanation and a concrete example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “To conclude” make the main stages easy to follow. However, progression within paragraphs is limited, and some links feel repetitive rather than building a detailed argument. For instance, the first body paragraph repeats the idea of sharing “as much as possible” and ends by restating that people share information through books, without moving to a new implication. The phrase “the academic world” is also repeated several times. Improve cohesion by linking each example explicitly to the claim it supports and varying references to the key topic.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the topic, with relevant terms such as “discoveries,” “inventions,” “competitors,” and “financial loss.” You also attempt more formal expressions, including “to the greatest extent possible” and “rapid progress.” However, the range is limited by repeated wording such as “information,” “share,” and “important,” and some phrases are not natural or precise. “The foremost invention of mankind” is an awkward way to introduce printing, while “the number of inventions that happened” is imprecise. Choose more specific academic collocations and avoid repeating the same key terms where a clear synonym or reference would work. These improvements would make the argument more fluent and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use a mixture of simple sentences and longer structures, including the concessive opening “Although both perspectives have merit” and the conditional clause “as they can face a huge financial loss.” Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, but the range is limited and some complex patterns are faulty. In “too valuable to share it with others,” the object pronoun is unnecessary after the infinitive construction; write “too valuable to share with others.” Similarly, “would not want the information of how to build a nuclear bomb in the hands” needs a clearer grammatical structure, such as “would not want information about building a nuclear bomb to fall into the hands…” Practise varied, accurate clause structures and check sentence patterns.

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