Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-08-11

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries not enough students are choosing to study science at university. What are the causes of this? What effects does it have on society?

Give reasons for your answer and include relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In many countries small number of students choosing science to study at university and most of the students choose subjescts other than science.

This issue is mostly in underdeveloped countries where education is costly and those who can afford mostly move with arts or business subjects. Higher education in science take much time and efforts which people choose very carefully. Buisness fields are very popular in those countries and people move with those options. It benefits with time and efforts. Not much time required in these fields and courses are easier than science.

If we talk about doctor, Engineer or computer science, these require more time in specialzation and money. The costs are higher for the equipments and need proper attention to in the courses and field work. It effects the society in different ways. When low number of doctors available in the country, there will be higher number of students per doctor with low competetion, which automatically make the costs higher. Same with other science fields, where low number of experts produce, the costs automatically go higher.

I have multiple real life examples which I have seen. I have a cousin who has just completed his medical degree but he is not happy with it. Now he regrets that he should have choosed business field rather than medical. He thinks his life would be more better if he has not spent most of his time in medical field as he has not achieved what he should have according to his opinion. Still he thinks to move to another fields and leave medical degree behin. He no more want to practice in this field.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: causes (cost, time, difficulty) and effects (shortage of experts, increased costs). However, the development is uneven. The causes are discussed in general terms, but the effects are somewhat repetitive and lack depth. The personal anecdote about a cousin is a relevant attempt at support, but it is too narrow and anecdotal for an academic essay, which requires broader societal analysis. The position is clear, but the ideas could be more fully extended to reach a higher band. The response is somewhat simplistic in its analysis of the relationship between education costs and societal outcomes.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical flow is often interrupted by awkward phrasing and a lack of cohesive devices. While there is a basic progression from causes to effects, the transitions between sentences are often missing or mechanical. For example, the shift to the personal example is abrupt and lacks a clear link to the previous paragraph. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the use of linking words is limited, making the text feel disjointed in places. Improved use of cohesive devices like 'consequently', 'furthermore', or 'in addition' would significantly enhance the flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There is frequent repetition of basic terms such as 'time', 'costs', and 'fields'. Some word choices are inaccurate or non-idiomatic, such as 'move with arts' instead of 'choose arts' or 'more better' (a grammatical error that also affects lexical precision). Spelling errors are present, such as 'subjescts', 'specialzation', 'competetion', and 'behin'. To improve, you should focus on using more academic collocations and synonyms to avoid repetitive phrasing and ensure accurate word choice.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay relies heavily on simple sentence structures. While there are attempts at complex sentences, they are often marred by grammatical errors. Frequent issues include missing articles ('a small number', 'the doctor'), subject-verb agreement errors ('Higher education... take', 'it effects the society'), and incorrect verb forms ('should have choosed'). Punctuation is also inconsistent. The frequency of these errors is high enough to cause some difficulty for the reader, although the overall meaning remains generally understandable. A greater focus on sentence variety and proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy is essential.

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

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