Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-08-23

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 contemporary times, there are many students, who decline to study in the fields of science due to tough subjects and leaning towards technology is more easy. But it has many drawbacks and causes to effect global markets and can be also endangered economically.

It is argued that in the modern era, there are significant causes which is dramatically changing students way of thinking to not choose science subjects, Main reasons are due to the 'toughness' of the subjects, such as Chemistry, Physics, Biology. These subject want individuals to study with disciplines and requires substantial amount of laboratory works. For instance, student will constantly do research homework and field works in institution laboratory to make their work more efficient in subject. Another example is in Biology subject our teacher given us a task to do a research on Frog, finding a frog was a huge challenge for all students.

Furthermore, trends are drastically shifting day by day, due to technology new upgrades. students are more keen to choose technology subjects such as Digital Marketing, and Website designer to make his self early influential, whereas it can effect countries economically, science subjects helps patient if new changes and updates are coming to health departments it will be very beneficial for crucial conditions patients, for example, till 1990 there was no cure available to treat a cancer patient, due to significant upgrades in new technology and developing chemotherapy can be a game changer for those who are dealing with this curse and fighting for survival.

In conclusion the science subjects can be sometimes boring and hard to follow for the rest of life especially for students, but denying choosing it can be far more dangerous lately.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: causes and effects. However, the development is uneven. The causes are discussed in terms of subject difficulty and the appeal of technology, but the explanation is somewhat simplistic. The effects on society are mentioned, but the connection between the decline in science students and the broader economic impact is not fully explored or logically linked. The example regarding the frog is anecdotal and lacks the academic tone required for Task 2. While the position is clear, the ideas lack the depth and extension required for a higher band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. For example, the transition 'But it has many drawbacks' at the start is abrupt, and the use of 'whereas' in the second paragraph does not effectively link the two contrasting ideas. Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as 'it will be very beneficial for crucial conditions patients', where the pronoun 'it' lacks a clear antecedent. The progression of ideas is present but feels disjointed at times due to these issues with linking words.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks precision and sophistication. There are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'leaning towards technology is more easy' instead of 'easier', and 'make his self early influential'. The student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'chemotherapy' and 'global markets', but the overall range is limited. Some collocations are unnatural, such as 'doing a research on Frog'. To improve, the student should focus on more accurate word forms and academic collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('these subject want', 'teacher given us'), incorrect article usage, and awkward sentence construction ('there are many students, who decline to study'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. More attention to sentence construction and proofreading for basic errors is necessary.

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

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