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)

There is a statement that declares that many students do not study science in university. There may be many reasons. Some students think that this subject is difficult to study so they choose arts or economics rather then science. Somehow there is one more reason that is their interest in subject. This will lead to positive and negative effects on society.

The reasons for not picking science in university is probably the difficulty in studying this dry subject. For instance most students want good grades so they select that subject which is easy and giving remarkable achivement to them. The most of the students take the subject which has their interest. Such as I choose medical study just because of my interest. While my parents wanted that I had to chose physics but I had zero percent interest in this subject so I select this healthcare field.

The society is the place where many individuals live and spent their lifespam. If students do not choose science this will cause both positive and negative effects. For example by selecting another subject such as arts it will also vital for the welbeing of society such as by giving their knowledge about interior designing, construction, or by building any thing that will be helpful. This will cause negative effects too. For example the students do not became scientists and our growing ratio will fall down as compared to oyher countries. There will not seen any discoveries so our country moves backwards.

To conclude my all discussion society plays important role in achivement of our country so by taking science subject it will be beneficial to makre more discoveries and make laws and promote our country. As well as arts or any other subject is vital too to study so we have to more focus on science and less on arts.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the main parts of the prompt by discussing both the causes and the effects of fewer students choosing science at university. However, the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed. For instance, the causes are primarily attributed to perceived difficulty and personal interest, with superficial expansion. Similarly, the effects on society touch upon interior design and national progress, but these arguments lack depth and solid supporting examples. The writer attempts a personal example, stating 'Such as I choose medical study just because of my interest,' which shifts the tone slightly into a personal narrative rather than academic discussion. To move to a higher level, the writer needs to extend and fully support their arguments with broader societal examples rather than relying on brief, generalised assertions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some organisation in the essay, with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing causes and effects, and a conclusion. However, there is no clear overall progression of ideas throughout the text. Cohesive devices are sometimes used mechanically or inaccurately, such as 'Somehow there is one more reason' and 'To conclude my all discussion'. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal paragraph cohesion is occasionally faulty, leading to abrupt transitions between sentences, such as moving from personal anecdotes directly to societal impacts without a smooth bridge. Referencing is also at times unclear, as seen in phrases like 'This will cause negative effects too.' To improve, the writer must ensure logical sequencing and employ a wider, more natural range of cohesive devices to guide the reader seamlessly through the arguments.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The writer relies heavily on basic terms and repeats common words such as 'subject,' 'science,' and 'interest.' There are noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and word form that occasionally cause difficulty or distract the reader, such as 'achivement' instead of achievement, 'welbeing' instead of wellbeing, and 'makre' instead of make. Attempts to use less common vocabulary are either inaccurate or inappropriate for an academic context, such as calling science a 'dry subject' or referring to 'growing ratio.' To achieve a higher band, the writer must expand their lexical range, demonstrate better control over word choice and collocations, and eliminate basic spelling and morphological mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with frequent attempts at complex forms that are often faulty. There are persistent errors in grammar throughout the text, including issues with verb forms and tenses, such as 'so I select this healthcare field,' subject-verb agreement errors like 'The reasons ... is probably,' and missing or incorrect articles and prepositions. Punctuation is also basic and occasionally problematic, leading to run-on thoughts or fragmented phrasing. These frequent errors can cause some difficulty for the reader. To progress, the writer needs to incorporate a greater variety of complex grammatical structures while significantly improving accuracy and control over basic sentence patterns.

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

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