Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-29

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 this contrary era, science has become extremely important to compete with others. Across many countries, the rate of students in science faculty has significantly dropped. This essay will discuss primary reasons of that cause and elaborate its impact on society.

To begin with, a social media influence plays a vital role to influence pupils to focus on different studies which can provide them more recognition and better pay such as entrepreneurship. As social media widely used influence people, many successfull business owners post their lavish lifestyle to show their superiority. As a result, many students get manipulated to choose business studies which can contribute to make them millionare. For instance, Andrew tate is a good example for it, who flaunt his lifestyle on social media platforms like Instagram and X and influence their followers to persue business studies. Moreover, less payroll in comparison of other sectors employees also a major factor to contribute for reduced student count in science field.

Despite these reasons, this predicament has several adverse effects on society. Firstly, it leads to decrease the number of scientist which could be the major contributing factor into a reduction rate of research conduction. As a result, people tend to spend more on newly introced technology which could make their work easier. Furthermore, scientists are considered a backbone of a country, which can provide a unique indentity to the nation through their intrinsic researches. As the students considered the future of nation, the drop in students preference towards science studies can hamper the recognition of country as well.

In conclusion, the predicament can has several contributing factors such as social media influence and less salaries which can lead to create negative impact like reduction in research rate.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the causes (social media influence and lower pay) and the societal effects (reduction in research and loss of national identity). A clear position is maintained throughout the essay. The ideas are generally relevant and supported with explanations and examples, such as the mention of social media influencers. However, some arguments tend to over-generalise or remain slightly under-developed, placing the response comfortably at Band 6.0. The writer successfully covers the main requirements of the task prompt while maintaining a consistent focus.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing causes and effects respectively, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'To begin with', 'Moreover', and 'Despite these reasons'. However, referencing and cohesion can sometimes feel mechanical or slightly repetitive, and paragraphing could be managed more skilfully to ensure smoother transitions. Overall progression is apparent, leading to a Band 6.0 score.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'lavish lifestyle', 'superiority', and 'predicament'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'contrary era' instead of 'contemporary era', 'science faculty' instead of 'faculty of science', and 'introced' (introduced). Spelling errors and inappropriate collocations ('less payroll' instead of 'lower salaries') prevent the score from reaching a higher band. Communication remains clear despite these flaws.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses ('studies which can provide them more recognition') and conditional-like phrasing. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('a social media influence plays...', 'as the students considered...'), incorrect verb forms ('the predicament can has'), and missing articles. These errors occur throughout the text, though they rarely impede overall communication, aligning the performance with Band 5.5.

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

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