Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-24

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)

It is often argued that science department of universities in many countries are failing to get a good number of students because the education of sicence is quite expensive rather than other subjects. This essay will throw light on the causes of this step and its effects on the society.

The main reason of this statement is that education in science department highly expensive. Finance department charged a good amount to the science students to overcome their expenses. Labs in such deperatments are not sinificantly developed, learners in these department have to do most of their work in labs, which is also a reason. For instance, If a student has interest in science but he belongs to low income family, he will not be able to pay the fees.

To counter this issue, Government should impose laws to decrease the fee structure of science department or provide free education to the needy students. Government should provide resouces to the medical colleges for better labs and practical work. For example, if a college is best known for its education of medical, most of the students will try to get seat in that college. Ultimately, this will leads to higher number of science students in that institute.

To conclude that, higher fee structure of the science departement is a barrier to get admission in such programs. By adjusting the fee of these institutes, government can play role to increase the number of students in these particular departments. Government should cooperate with these institutes to overcome this issue.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the causes of low enrollment in science departments and the subsequent societal effects, although the effects are slightly underdeveloped. In the introduction and body paragraphs, the writer identifies high tuition costs and inadequate laboratory facilities as primary causes. However, the exploration of the effects on society is somewhat brief and tangential, focusing more on solutions such as government intervention rather than deeply analyzing the societal impact of a shortage of science graduates. For instance, the conclusion attempts to summarize the points but shifts focus back to the fee structure rather than outlining broader consequences. The position is generally clear throughout, but the development of ideas could be extended more thoroughly to reach a higher band. Consequently, the response aligns best with Band 5.5 to 6.0 descriptors, specifically fulfilling the criteria of addressing the task with some relevant ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure separating the introduction, body arguments, recommendations, and conclusion. Ideas are introduced logically, starting with the causes and moving towards government solutions and a final summary. However, cohesion is at times mechanical and faulty. For example, transitional phrases like 'To counter this issue' and 'To conclude that' show an attempt to link ideas, but grammatical phrasing in transitions is awkward, as seen in 'To conclude that, higher fee structure...'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and cohesive devices are overused in a repetitive pattern. Paragraphing is used adequately to separate distinct themes, but the logical progression between sentences occasionally falters due to abrupt shifts in focus. These characteristics place the response firmly in the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range, where organization is visible but cohesive shortcomings remain prominent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating central ideas regarding university education, tuition fees, and laboratory equipment. Words such as 'tuition', 'finance', 'resources', and 'barrier' show a sufficient resource to discuss academic contexts. However, there are numerous lexical errors, word choice inaccuracies, and spelling mistakes throughout the text. Examples include 'sicence' instead of 'science', 'deperatments' instead of 'departments', 'sinificantly' instead of 'significantly', and the phrase 'finance department charged a good amount' which lacks precise academic collocation. Furthermore, terms are occasionally misused, such as 'education of medical' instead of 'medical education'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score because less common vocabulary is attempted with persistent inaccuracies. This performance reflects the typical characteristics of a Band 5.5 or 6.0 score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at conditional structures and relative clauses, such as 'If a student has interest in science but he belongs to low income family...' and 'if a college is best known for its education of medical, most of the students will try to get seat...'. However, grammatical control is inconsistent, and frequent errors in articles, prepositions, subject-verb agreement, and clause structures are present. Noticeable mistakes include 'science department of universities... are failing' (subject-verb agreement), 'education of sicence is quite expensive rather than other subjects' (awkward comparative structure), 'labs in such deperatments are not sinificantly developed, learners in these department have to do' (comma splices), and 'this will leads to' (verb form error). Although communication is rarely completely blocked, these recurring errors prevent the response from achieving a higher band, placing it safely at Band 5.5.

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

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