Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-08-14

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 todays cut throat competitive era, there has been a noticeable decline in the number of students to opting to pursue science degrees at colleges and universities , While this phenomenon is often attributed to a combination of various factors. This essay will discuss the root causes of these obstacles and propose a serious of viable measures to mitigate its adverse factors.

The drives behind the low enrollment in science field are multifaceted. Chief among these is that extremely difficult. For instance, science subjects require a strong determination, efforts and analytical skills due to complex theories and heavy workload in this field. it is inevitably leads to discourage the pupils to choosing science subjects.

Additionally, this issue is further compounded by high cost of education and better career prospects elsewhere. A clear illustration of this can be seen in other highly demanding fields such as, business, finance and IT . these requires a considerable finance resources and offers high salaries to employees which resulted in a decline in medical subjects.

By contrast, This has detrimental effects on society skills shortage because of challenges that the people faced to studied these subjects. furthermore, it has economic drawbacks because it assist to reduce the competition in this field.

To conclude, these issues can be effectively dealt with thorough combine efforts. Government and individuals all have a role to play in overcoming this issue by providing the incentives to those students who tend to pursue this field and individuals need to encourage as a role models to youngster.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt (causes and effects), but the development is inconsistent. While the causes—difficulty of the subject and financial incentives—are identified, the explanations are somewhat superficial. The discussion of effects is particularly underdeveloped, lacking specific detail on how a shortage of scientists impacts society beyond a brief mention of 'economic drawbacks'. Furthermore, the introduction mentions proposing 'viable measures' to mitigate the issue, which was not part of the prompt, indicating a slight misunderstanding of the task requirements. To reach a higher band, you should focus on extending your arguments with more concrete examples and ensuring all parts of your response directly answer the specific questions asked.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical flow is frequently interrupted by grammatical errors and awkward phrasing. While some cohesive devices are used (e.g., 'Additionally', 'By contrast', 'To conclude'), their application is often mechanical or inaccurate, such as the sentence fragment 'This has detrimental effects on society skills shortage because of challenges that the people faced to studied these subjects.' The referencing is occasionally unclear, and the progression of ideas within paragraphs lacks the necessary coherence to guide the reader smoothly. Improving the use of linking words and ensuring that each sentence logically follows the previous one will significantly enhance the clarity of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary range is adequate for the task but lacks precision. There are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'serious of viable measures' (instead of 'series'), 'drives behind' (instead of 'reasons' or 'factors'), and 'finance resources' (instead of 'financial resources'). While you attempt to use some topic-specific vocabulary like 'enrollment' and 'analytical skills', the overall control is limited. To improve, focus on learning the correct collocations for academic writing and avoid using words that you are not entirely confident about, as this leads to inaccuracies that occasionally impede the reader's understanding.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a high frequency of grammatical errors that affect readability. There are frequent issues with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'it is inevitably leads to discourage', 'these requires'), incorrect verb forms ('people faced to studied'), and punctuation errors, particularly with comma usage. Sentence structures are often repetitive or fragmented. While there is an attempt at complex sentences, they are frequently marred by errors, which prevents the use of a wide range of error-free structures. To progress, you must focus on mastering basic sentence construction, specifically ensuring that subjects and verbs agree and that verb tenses are used consistently throughout your paragraphs.

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

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