Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-28

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 most developing countries, students prefer to learn art and commerce subjects at university. Due to this reason, most of the students find science subjects difficult to study. Moreover, most learners lack their interests because they assumed that merit of the university would be much higher for the science rather than the arts subjects. However, students with low calibre don't apply in such demanding fields of science.

The other reason for this is, parents are not familiar with the scope of the science as well, thus they educated their children with minimal of education. Because of this, children are motivated by parents to learn the art subject since their childhood. For example, most students who are irresponsible and don't focus on their studies, got lower marks in their examination. As a result, they don't get selected in the science subject, thus they go for other options and apply for the art and commerce subjects without knowing the scope of science. Last but not the least, parents are not able to afford the fees of the science subjects, so most of the students prefer to study subjects other than science.

The major significant effects that have been faced by the society is that industries are struggling with their growths and productions because they have shortage of professional labours. The industries want an individuals who are able to handle their production efficiently. Futhermore, there are less job opportunities for the students as well in a country, which results in decreased number of science students respectively. Subsequently, those who are professionals migrated to other countries for the search of good job opportunities, due to which society struggles with diverse effects.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both causes and effects, and the response stays focused on why fewer students choose science and what this means for society. Causes include perceived difficulty, parents’ limited awareness, and the cost of study; effects include labour shortages and the migration of professionals. However, several points are asserted rather than clearly explained. For example, the link between students being “irresponsible” and choosing arts does not convincingly explain the wider trend, and the effects paragraph gives little detail about how shortages affect society beyond industry. To strengthen the response, develop fewer, more relevant ideas with clear cause-and-effect reasoning and specific examples, and make the overall explanation more precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: causes are discussed first, followed by effects, and linking phrases such as “Moreover,” “For example,” and “As a result” help signal relationships. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow. The second paragraph moves from parental awareness to students’ exam results and then to affordability without clearly connecting these points. Some links are also mechanical or unclear, particularly “due to which society struggles with diverse effects.” Use topic sentences to establish each paragraph’s main point, group related explanations together, and make references such as “this reason” and “those who” unmistakably clear. This would create a more consistent line of development.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt vocabulary relevant to education and employment, including “demanding fields,” “professional labour,” “production,” and “job opportunities.” This gives you some range, but word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or unnatural, which can make ideas harder to interpret. Examples include “lack their interests,” “merit of the university,” “minimal of education,” and “diverse effects.” “Professional labours” is also not a natural way to refer to skilled workers. Spelling errors such as “Futhermore” add to the impression of limited control. Aim to learn common word partnerships in context and choose precise terms rather than formal-sounding phrases that do not fit the meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use some complex sentence forms, including clauses with “because,” “since,” and “which,” but attempts at longer structures are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to affect clarity. For example, “the major significant effects … is” has a subject–verb agreement problem, while “thus they educated their children” uses an unsuitable verb form. Articles and plurals are also inconsistent, as in “an individuals” and “the scope of the science.” Several sentences join multiple ideas with commas or connectors without a clear grammatical relationship. Practise building accurate simple sentences first, then extend them with one subordinate clause at a time, checking agreement, verb forms, and sentence boundaries.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.