Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-20

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)

Many students nowadays prefer not to study science and opt for other subjects instead. This shift has been influenced by many factors, such as, saturation in science courses, people not being able to secure a job due to concentration in job market, and the rise in individual choices rather than societal pressure.

Studying science in university has been the most preferred and convinient option for a very long time and people use to prepare months and years before entry exams, just to get into the universities offering science course. However, in recent years there has been a shift in this behaviour, and people now do not put the same amount of effort in securing their desired science course the way they use to. This shift has occured due to many reasons, for instance, due to the high demand of module the large number of students try to secure their seat for the course and a lot of them do not get in, which in many cases becomes the reason why students lose their motivation and do not try again while also sugessting other youngsters around them to look for better options, thats how many individuals backoff. Other reason being the large number of science graduates and only limited jobs availible in the market. This creates chaos and tension between people with science degree since after spending years preparing and studying, many of them stay unemployed and eventually change their fields.

However, it does not make science any less important to pursue because it has been the most usefull and vesatile field to study. Scientist has been able to invent so many new medicines, cure, and have excelled in research because of science. Students deciding not to study science is for the better because if universities spend thier time and use their space on reasonable amount of students, that will be beneficial because everyone will get the amount of attention and facilities that they ideally require, and later on there will be no shortage of jobs aswell.

In conclusion, science has always been important and will also stay relevent in future as well, but there is no benefit in producing 10000 graduates that will in future stay unemployed. It is better for society that students explore all the fields and go fo what they desire so that every person gets to practice what they spent their life studying.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both causes and effects, and your position is clearest in the conclusion: students should be able to choose fields that suit them, rather than producing many unemployed graduates. The causes you identify—competition for places and limited jobs for science graduates—are relevant. However, the effects on society are not developed as fully as the causes. The discussion of unemployment focuses mainly on graduates themselves, while the claim that fewer students will allow universities to provide better facilities is asserted rather than explained. The paragraph praising scientific inventions also does not clearly show the societal consequences of declining enrolment. Develop each effect with a specific explanation or example, and make the link between fewer science students and wider social outcomes explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two main paragraphs and a conclusion, and the reader can generally follow the discussion. Linking expressions such as “However” and “In conclusion” help signal shifts. Within the second paragraph, though, several ideas are packed into long sentences, making the progression harder to track; the explanation moves from course competition to students losing motivation and advising others without clear separation. The third paragraph also shifts from the value of science to the benefits of limiting enrolment, so its central purpose is not fully clear. Use one paragraph for causes and another for societal effects, and make each paragraph’s main point explicit. More precise referencing would also help connect claims to their consequences.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “science graduates,” “unemployed,” “research,” “universities” and “societal pressure,” which makes the subject clear. There are also attempts at more specific expressions such as “secure their seat” and “limited jobs.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “saturation in science courses,” “high demand of module” and “reasonable amount of students.” Spelling errors such as “convinient,” “occurred,” “availible” and “relevent” are noticeable and reduce the overall control of vocabulary. Aim for more natural academic collocations and check spelling carefully. For example, describe competition for places directly and distinguish between the number of graduates and the availability of jobs.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses with “because,” “since” and “while,” and the overall meaning is usually understandable. However, complex sentences are often difficult to control. For example, the sentence beginning “This shift has occured due to many reasons” runs through several causes and consequences without clear sentence boundaries. There are also errors in verb forms and agreement, as in “people use to prepare” and “Scientist has been able,” as well as missing or incorrect articles and plurals in phrases such as “the course” and “a lot of them.” Punctuation is inconsistent, particularly in long sentences. Break extended explanations into shorter sentences and check subject–verb agreement, tense, articles and sentence boundaries.

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