Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-08-22

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)

Now-a-days, there has been a significant change in the subjects opted by students at university level. This approach has evolved over the years and has its own advantages on the society. This essay will primarily support the choices of students of today's time while highlighting a menial disadvantage it brings upon the society.

In my opinion, these days students are given much more leverage and freedom as compared to the youth of ten or twenty years before. Parents are now more flexible and tend not to push their children towards a specific field as they used to do before. The reason lies in the fact that science was once a major respectable field of their time. For instance, if we take a look at the options our fathers and forefathers had in the prime years , they had the option to choice either engineering or medicine. This restricted their options to only science subjects.

On more reason is the exposure that career counsellors are bringing to the children. The advancement of science and technology is not a hidden truth and the more people pursue such fields , the more it becomes saturated. At times like this , the advisors are there to provide students with the guidance they need instead of sticking to just science subjects and broaden their horizons. Moreover, this has also led and encouraged students to pick arts and humanities which was once deemed as a very weak subject.

In conclusion , the choice of subjects do not affect the society significantly but produces a wide range of multi-disciplinary talents along the world. This is no doubt a very positive outcome for today's youth.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt but fails to fully develop the required content. While you identify causes (parental flexibility and career counseling), the discussion on the effects on society is underdeveloped and contradictory. You state in the introduction that you will highlight a 'menial disadvantage,' but the conclusion claims the choice of subjects does not affect society significantly. This lack of clarity regarding the societal impact means the task is only partially addressed. To improve, ensure that your arguments are consistent and that you provide specific, logical consequences for society, such as a potential shortage of engineers or medical professionals, rather than dismissing the impact in the conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, and there is a logical progression of ideas. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'For instance,' 'On more reason' (likely a typo for 'One more reason'), and 'Moreover.' However, the transition between the causes and the societal effects is weak. The conclusion is somewhat disconnected from the body paragraphs, as it introduces the idea of 'multi-disciplinary talents' which was not previously discussed. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider range of cohesive devices to link your ideas more fluidly and ensure that your conclusion directly synthesizes the points made in the body paragraphs.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. You use some appropriate phrases like 'broaden their horizons' and 'saturated,' but there are also instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'menial disadvantage' (which does not fit the context) and 'subjects opted by students.' There are also minor errors in word choice, such as 'choice' instead of 'choose.' To improve, try to incorporate more academic collocations and precise terminology related to education and societal trends, while ensuring that the words you choose accurately reflect your intended meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include 'Now-a-days' (should be 'Nowadays'), 'On more reason' (should be 'One more reason'), 'the choice of subjects do not affect' (subject-verb agreement error: 'does not'), and 'along the world' (should be 'around the world'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with spacing before commas. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and proofreading for common errors. Increasing the variety of complex structures while maintaining accuracy will help you achieve a higher score.

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

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