Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-08-31

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 parts of world, an increasing number of peers are making a choice not to study science in universities. it have several negative bad effects on society and later on due to this negative trend, the society will face many problems.

To commence with the causes of why pupils are not studying science in university. Up until elementary education science is must for every student to study, but many students withdraw it in universities and choose other subjects. Some students find science a very complicated subject as it need a lot of attention and high level of i.q if someone want to become career in field of medical or non medical. As science consist some very hard subjects like math, biology, chemistry, physics. Another reason I think is that expert faculty plays an important role in a student's decision to choose subject. Science is a very hard subject and experienced and highly qualified staff is required to teach science, there are very few education institutes who have qualified teachers to teach science. Lastly, science is generally a practical subject and to perform an experiment students need proper proper place and equipment ,generally universities do not have these arrangements so peers are choosing other subjects to study in college.

Now if we talk about the effects of this on society, firstly, of lesser students are studying science then in some years there are going to be a few doctors, engineers or scientists. As these profession holders need to study science. Moreover , if few will opt for these occupations then the competition in other profession will rise and the number of unemployed people will rise significantly. Due to high demand and less people in scientific occupation, their charges will rise and poor people will have to spend more to get service. As a result rich continue to become more rich and poor will remain poor.

Overall, there is no denying in saying less students are studying science due to many reasons. Hence, we need to find a solution to this problem by spreading awareness of science subject to get greater career opportunities and a simple way to teach and learn science should be made.

AI examiner evaluation

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

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: causes (difficulty of subjects, lack of qualified staff, inadequate facilities) and effects (shortage of professionals, increased unemployment in other sectors, economic inequality). The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed. However, the position is slightly underdeveloped in the conclusion, which lacks a strong summary of the effects. The response would benefit from more specific examples to support the claims, such as mentioning a specific country or a real-world trend to move beyond generalisations. Overall, the task is fulfilled adequately.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To commence with', 'Another reason', and 'Moreover'. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly repetitive. There are also issues with referencing and sentence-level flow, such as the awkward phrasing 'In many parts of world' and the abrupt transition between the introduction and the first body paragraph. Paragraphing is present, but the logical progression within paragraphs could be smoother to achieve a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. There is some repetition of basic terms like 'subject', 'science', and 'hard'. Phrasing is occasionally unnatural, such as 'profession holders' and 'there is no denying in saying'. While the meaning is clear throughout, the range of vocabulary is limited, and there is little evidence of less common lexical items or idiomatic expressions that would demonstrate a more sophisticated command of the language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in articles ('in many parts of world'), subject-verb agreement ('it have several', 'science consist'), and punctuation (unnecessary spaces before commas). Some sentences are grammatically fragmented or awkward, such as 'if someone want to become career in field of medical'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to suggest a lack of control over complex structures, keeping the score in the 5.5 to 6.0 range.

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

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