Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-02

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)

Science and medical fields have become less demanding university degree in many countries. Students have been increasingly prioritising computer and technological areas to explore. It may have detrimetal impacts on society in terms of less number of expert scientists to do research, and medical staffs to work for human well-being. This essay will examine the causes and effects.

One of the major reasons of not choosing to study science at university is few job opportunities. Although science studies allow students to pursue different sectors including healthcare, engineering, research, and even in education, this does not broaden employment oppotunities for newly graduates. However, high school students have been preferring to pursue their degree in IT sector since this is the most demanding skills and employers often prefer candidates with technological competencies. For example, many institutions organize a test for science graduates in millions and only few openings are available; nevertheless, computer science learners are capable to adapt any tech skills and adjust in any field.

There are many disastrous consequences of this shift on society. First of all, educational institutions are unable to produce numbers of quality doctors, scientists, engineers, and teachers. The siginficant proportion of workers who could work society are reduced. This would definitely effect on economic as well, when patients need an assistance from an expert for a serious treatment, they can avail that from foreign hospitals which will expensive. For example, during the first wave of Covid, hospital staffs were unable to treat critical patients due to lack of expertise or facilities; moreover, patients had to follow the pandemic protocols.

In conclusion, this global shift towards tech industry, accelerated by technological advancements and the pandemic, has significantly declined the importance science studies. Society is struggling with less number of experts in dedicated fields.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the causes and the effects of fewer students choosing science at university. However, the development of ideas remains somewhat limited and uneven across the essay. For instance, the cause regarding job opportunities is introduced, but the explanation regarding how institutions organise tests is slightly unclear and under-developed. To reach a higher level, the ideas need to be extended with more precise reasoning and fully supported examples, moving beyond generalisations about the IT sector and medical fields.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, demonstrating an attempt to sequence ideas logically. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the causes from the effects. Nevertheless, cohesion within and between sentences can be mechanical or occasionally faulty, such as the abrupt transition in the third paragraph starting with 'First of all,' and some referencing issues like 'this global shift'. To improve, the writer should employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices to create a smoother, more natural progression throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'prioritising', 'competencies', and 'disastrous consequences'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors in word choice, word form, and spelling throughout the text, including 'detrimetal' instead of detrimental, 'medical staffs' instead of medical staff, 'newly graduates' instead of recent graduates, and 'siginficant' instead of significant. These errors do not impede overall communication, but they reflect a limited control of less common vocabulary. Greater precision in word choice and careful proofreading for spelling are required to progress.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures such as concessive clauses ('Although science studies allow...') and conditional ideas. However, frequent grammatical errors are present, particularly with articles, plurals, prepositions, and verb forms. Examples include 'less demanding university degree' (missing plural and article), 'few job opportunities' used where 'fewer' is required, 'this would definitely effect on economic' (incorrect verb form and preposition), and 'can avail that' (missing reflexive pronoun or object). While communication is rarely impeded, these persistent errors in basic and complex structures prevent the writing from achieving a higher level of grammatical control.

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