Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-08-25

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, inadequate amount of students are willing to study science at university. This has lots of causes as well as detrimental effects on society.

Today's world is a globalized world and it is developing rapidly in science sectors. So, enough students should study science to be successful in their career. In many countries, not enough students are choosing to study science because there are not skilled science teachers in the university who can support the students in their study. In addition, the study materials of a science students are not good so they can not learn properly to compete with other science students of the world. For example, if a student choose chemistry subject, so one should required not only a good mentor but also a good lab facilities to complete one's study. So, without these, students become demotivated and become unwilling to choose science subject to study.

Society will face lots of detrimental effects because of this. If a student do not choose science subject as major then most of the students will be in different backgrounds. So, in future, there will be a lack of engineers, doctors as well as chemists in the society. Most of the people will have no knowledge about science. Furthermore, students will be unable to teach their future generation about science. Consequently, they will be unable to contribute to their society. As a result, they can not get better job opportunities as well as they will be unable to join the international science fairs and conferences .

In conclusion, students are not willing to choose science subject at university not only for lack of skilled teachers but also for inadequate facilities. These has a bad effects on society .

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: causes (lack of skilled teachers and poor facilities) and effects (shortage of professionals and lack of scientific literacy). However, the development is somewhat repetitive and lacks depth. For instance, the argument regarding 'lack of skilled teachers' is stated but not fully explored with specific examples beyond a general mention of chemistry. The ideas are relevant but remain at a surface level, which limits the potential for a higher score. To improve, you should provide more concrete, real-world examples or elaborate on the long-term societal consequences beyond just job opportunities.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, and there is a logical progression from causes to effects. You use some cohesive devices like 'In addition,' 'Furthermore,' and 'Consequently,' which help guide the reader. However, some transitions feel mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the final paragraph where 'These has a bad effects' is grammatically awkward and lacks a precise antecedent. The paragraphing is appropriate, but the internal flow within paragraphs could be smoother to achieve a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You rely on basic descriptors like 'good,' 'bad,' and 'lots of,' which are repetitive. There are also some collocation errors, such as 'inadequate amount of students' (should be 'number of students') and 'study materials of a science students' (should be 'science students' materials'). While the meaning is always clear, the range of vocabulary is limited, and you do not demonstrate the use of less common or idiomatic language required for higher bands.

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 persist throughout. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('if a student choose chemistry subject, so one should required'), article usage ('the university' vs 'universities'), and pluralization errors ('a science students'). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, they are frequent enough to impact the overall fluency and accuracy of the writing. You should focus on mastering basic sentence construction and subject-verb agreement.

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

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