Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-05

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 today's 21st century, the information and knowledge is available at fingertips, where AI has taken over the world, today's generation are more attracted towards arts, commerce and life skills.

That craze to become engineers and doctors have shifted to become entrepreneurs and business tycoons of tomorrow.

In many countries students are opting for non science fields as they want to learn more practical and life skills rather than just bookish knowledge.

The main reason behind this competition, unemployment and over population. The students who study the trends of today and who are aware of the happenings around the world know that population explosion and unemployment have become a threat to job opportunities, so they chose fields in which they can earn their livelihood independently like becoming a writer, artist or an entrepreneur.

Apart from this most of the studies in science fields are costly, given the inflation rate and price rise as economic factors, maximum students' parents discourage science fields as it drmands time and money with almost no guarantee of returns, hence making rate of return near to nill.

Peer influence or peer pressure or as the Gen-z say trend, also plays influencing role in field selection at universities. The trend followers donot see social or economic factor but simply follow the herd. Leading to less enrolments in science fields.

Having known all of the above factors, it will definitely have an effect on the society not suddenly but eventually. And when the deman for science graduates or doctorates would increase people would be again attracted towards the glory of the science. Hence, its more like a cycle that continues of demand and supply.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the causes of fewer students choosing science and the potential societal effects, which places it in the mid-range. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and uneven across the paragraphs. While the writer touches on practical skills, competition, and economic factors as causes, these points remain under-developed and lack fully elaborated supporting examples. For instance, the discussion on economic factors mentions inflation and price rise but does not fully explain the broader societal consequences beyond a general cyclic view of demand and supply. To move to a higher band, the response would need to extend and support all ideas more thoroughly, providing deeper analysis and more explicit connections to societal impacts.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic underlying structure and the essay is divided into paragraphs, indicating some overall organisation. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression, and the logical flow between sentences and paragraphs is occasionally disjointed. Cohesive devices are sometimes used inadequately or mechanically, as seen with abrupt transitions and disconnected single-sentence paragraphs like 'That craze to become engineers and doctors have shifted to become entrepreneurs and business tycoons of tomorrow.' Referencing and substitution are also at times unclear, which disrupts the logical development of the argument. Achieving a higher band would require more skilful management of cohesive devices, clearer referencing, and a more logical, seamless progression of ideas throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and phrasing such as 'population explosion', 'livelihood independently', and 'economic factors'. However, there are noticeable limitations and inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, including phrases like 'drmands time and money' (spelling error) and 'rate of return near to nill'. While these errors do not seriously impede communication, they reflect the constraints of a band six level. To reach a higher band, the writer needs to incorporate a wider and more precise range of vocabulary with fewer errors in spelling and word formation, demonstrating greater stylistic awareness and collocation control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing relies on a limited range of structures, and attempts at more complex sentences are frequently marred by errors. There are frequent mistakes in subject-verb agreement, such as 'the information and knowledge is available' and 'the craze... have shifted', as well as punctuation and article errors. Other structural awkwardness appears in sentences like 'Leading to less enrolments in science fields', which functions as a sentence fragment. These frequent errors in basic and complex structures can occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. To improve, the writer must demonstrate better control over grammatical patterns, reduce the frequency of basic errors, and ensure that complex sentences are constructed accurately.

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

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