Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-06

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)

While being a student of science, I'm much motivated towards studying it as it aid students in exploring and learning much of the innovations and about their surroundings. The aspects of career goals, socio-economic benefits as well as monetary values are some the concerns I've observed in the past few years. These aspects may make students more lenient towards studying other subjects rather than science at university. Meanwhile every educational department has its own pros. and cons. There are a considerable number of peers whom I know are more reluctant to go for science as their level of interest is a bit low in the respective department. Similarly, there are notable personalities that has inculcated in them the thirst of arts.

The foremost factor for not opting science lies in an environment where a person lives. Here I want to incorporate the concept delivered by Dr. Maria Montessori, who is a well-known Montessori teacher. She says that every child is born with different capabilities and there are specific 'windows of opportunity' in children that lets them learn a specific work or activity at a certain age. For instance at the age of 6, a child has acquired a number of traits that help him/ her in developing his whole personality. Therefore, it's the childhood in most cases when students select their level of interests that reflects later in their life. For instance, Dr. Maria took children of underpreviliged areas and provided them with equipped environment of learning. To her surprise, children who were once didn't know anything now was solving complex mathematical puuzles. Hence, it's all about the sufficient and safe environment that tends to make a student choose their paths of study accordingly.

On the other hand, some countries provide tuition free courses in some selective subjects. Students who belongs to suburb areas or from lowe middle class use to go for the subjects that are more convinient for them in terms of fiscal value. For example, arts subjects have quite a low tuition fee. Hence the student who wants to study further lead this path while ignoring other sujects to study at university. Some of the developed countries like Schengen countries and Germany allow students to study without worrying them to pay for their tution fee. These countries also provide scholarships and fellowships to the deserving candidates, so that more students progress in research and helps in provision of innovative ideas.

In my opinion, I would like to elaborate that effects of students not choosing to study science in university put a huge impact on society. The lack of knowledge and publishing of quality research papers alongwith low number of intellects and genius makes a country lag behind. Only if the educational department takes an action and begin to cooperate with the students, there would be a time when the society see the positive impact. The confidence, sense of belief and acknowledgment is what we can call is the need of hour in this aspect.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the causes of students avoiding science and the effects on society, but the treatment remains partial and limited in places. The introduction includes personal anecdotes and a somewhat wandering focus rather than establishing a direct, clear position on the causes and effects. While the body paragraphs attempt to examine environmental factors, early childhood education, and financial tuition costs, the ideas are somewhat under-developed and lack robust, direct support. For instance, the reference to Dr. Maria Montessori is interesting, but the connection to modern university science enrolment is meandering rather than precisely argued. Similarly, the societal effects mentioned in the final paragraph are introduced abruptly and remain somewhat generalised. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to ensure that every main idea is fully extended and clearly focused on answering both parts of the prompt with greater depth and precision.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response displays some overall organisation, with distinct paragraphs attempting to separate the introduction, causes, and effects, but it lacks a clear, smooth overall progression. Cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical, repetitive, or inadequate, leading to abrupt transitions between ideas. For example, sentences like 'Meanwhile every educational department has its own pros. and cons.' and 'Hence, it's all about the sufficient and safe environment' create choppy links between concepts rather than a fluid flow of argument. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as when pronouns like 'it' or 'they' lack precise antecedents. Paragraphing is used, but the internal logical structuring within paragraphs requires tighter cohesion. To achieve a higher level of cohesion, the writer should employ a wider and more natural variety of discourse markers and ensure that each sentence logically builds upon the preceding one to guide the reader seamlessly through the argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, providing enough range to communicate basic ideas, but it is marred by noticeable errors in word choice, collocation, and word form. Examples include phrases like 'lenient towards studying' (instead of reluctant or hesitant), 'underpreviliged' (spelling error), 'equipped environment' (awkward collocation), and 'puuzles' (spelling error). The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'socio-economic benefits' and 'fellowships', but these are accompanied by frequent inaccuracies that occasionally cause strain for the reader. To improve lexical resource, the writer needs to focus on precise word choices, correct collocations related to academic and socio-economic topics, and careful proofreading to eliminate basic spelling and word-formation errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay displays a limited range of grammatical structures, and attempts at complex sentences are frequently marred by errors. There are frequent issues with subject-verb agreement, articles, and prepositional patterns. Examples of errors include 'notable personalities that has inculcated' (subject-verb agreement), 'children who were once didn't know anything now was solving' (tense and agreement errors), 'Students who belongs' (agreement), and 'worrying them to pay for their tution fee' (awkward structural control). Simple sentences are handled with reasonable clarity, but complex formulations often contain multiple errors that cause difficulty for the reader. To reach a higher band, the writer must demonstrate better control over complex sentence patterns, ensure strict agreement between subjects and verbs, and accurately manage tense consistency and auxiliary verbs.

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