Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-15

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 6.0)

In today's world, there are a variety of course options for students attending university across the world with many choosing to pursue alternative courses to science specifically. There are many reasons for this and it has both positive and negative impacts on society.

Firstly, students today have a broader selection of available courses at university in comparison to students of previous years. This conincides with the world developing. Hisotorically, there was a more generic focus at unverisity on specific courses associated with school and less focus on more creative courses. Thus, university was less accesible. Whereas today, universities offer a much wider range of courses which caters for all levels of students enabling more people to enroll in university.

One of the positives of this greater variety of courses is more students can pursue a career they want and are more likely to find suitable employment in an area they feel passionate about.

On the other hand, a potential negative of this is often it is actually harder to get jobs in certain studies that are quite broad, reducing the chances of employment. Another conseuqence of this is students may leave university with high debt from fees and not find suitable employment when they graduate, if they do so.

It could also be disputed that the lack of scientific studies reduces the amount society knows about science which is an important topic. However, despite this, learning about science at school may be suffice for many and there are other options at univeristy that incorporate science.

To conclude, students today are utilisng the diverse course options available to them at university and not solely focusing on science.

Although this is causing some negative impacts on society, the pros outweigh the cons.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt's two core questions: the causes of fewer students choosing science and the effects on society. However, the explanation of the causes diverges slightly from the prompt's specific premise. While the prompt asks why fewer students choose science, your body paragraphs largely discuss the general rise of diverse course options at universities rather than directly isolating the specific economic, cultural, or educational deterrents driving students away from scientific disciplines. Furthermore, the discussion on societal impacts mentions that a lack of scientific studies reduces societal knowledge, but this point remains somewhat underdeveloped and concludes with the concession that school science may suffice. To achieve a higher band, the ideas regarding why science specifically is being avoided—such as perceived difficulty, career prospects, or tuition costs—need more targeted exploration and extension. Nonetheless, a clear position is maintained throughout the essay, and all parts of the prompt are given some level of attention, warranting a solid Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised to separate the main ideas, moving from the causes in the second paragraph to the positive and negative effects in subsequent sections. However, the logical progression is occasionally disrupted by abrupt transitions and shifts in focus. For instance, the transition from discussing the positives of varied course options directly into the negatives lacks a smooth transitional framework. Cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical, such as the frequent use of 'Firstly', 'On the other hand', and 'To conclude'. Additionally, referencing can be unclear at times, particularly with pronouns like 'this' referring to broad antecedent concepts. While the text is easy to follow overall, the mechanical use of cohesive ties and minor organizational leaps place this performance firmly at Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'alternative courses', 'historical focus', 'suitable employment', and 'diverse course options'. There are, however, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors that detract from the precision of the writing. For instance, 'conincides' is misspelled, 'Hisotorically' contains a typo, 'unverisity' is misspelled, 'accesible' is missing a double 's', 'conseuqence' is misspelled, and 'suffice' is used incorrectly as an adjective instead of a verb ('suffice' vs 'sufficient'). Furthermore, some collocations are slightly unnatural, such as 'certain studies that are quite broad'. While these errors do not impede overall communication—allowing the reader to grasp your intended meaning—the frequency of mechanical and lexical slips prevents the score from reaching Band 7.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use relative clauses and conditional structures, as seen in 'students today have a broader selection of available courses at university in comparison to students of previous years' and 'students may leave university with high debt from fees and not find suitable employment when they graduate'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are issues with punctuation and sentence boundary demarcation, notably the dangling fragment 'if they do so' and run-on structures. Additionally, subject-verb agreement and prepositional use show minor lapses, such as 'cater for all levels of students' versus 'caters'. Although the errors are rarely severe enough to impede communication, the frequency of slips in complex constructions means the writing fits the Band 6.0 descriptor, where simple structures are handled well but complex sentences contain frequent errors.

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

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