Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-11-03

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)

Nowadays, the declining interest in science subjects is mainly due to the limited resources and funding for advance research, which may discourage students from pursuing scientific careers.This can have some serious effects on society such as shortage of skilled professionals and slower scientific development.

Inadequate research resources may reduce the interests of students in science. This is because educationalists prefer to choose other fields including business, IT or finance. A good example of this is that students who wants to pursue chemistry may loss interests due to the shortage of well-equipped lab, and necessary chemicals to perform high level experiments. This may results in less students pursue chemistry field. Therefore, students often choose business and IT fields, they may not require good resources for advance research.

Shortage of skilled professionals is the major effect that society facing today. This is because hosiptals are not able to provide adequate care to the patients. For instance, less number of students prefer mbbs field lead to the less number of skilled doctors may results in uneffective healthcare services . As a result, it can affect healthcare department and scientific development.

In conclusion, the lack of resources for advanced research may discourage students from pursuing science at university. Consequently, science may face a shortage of skilled professionals and slower scientific development, which could negatively affect society.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both causes and effects, and your central explanation—that limited research resources discourage science study—is relevant. You also identify a social consequence through the shortage of doctors and link this to healthcare. However, the response only partially develops the task: the cause is presented almost entirely as inadequate funding and facilities, while the effects are mainly asserted rather than explored. For example, the claim that fewer science students lead to slower scientific development needs a clearer explanation or a specific example. The hospital example is relevant, but the connection between studying science generally and choosing medicine could be made more precise. The response is 28 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop and support these ideas. Extend both parts with further causes or consequences and concrete explanation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph on causes, a paragraph on effects, and a conclusion. The main focus of each body paragraph is generally clear, and linking expressions such as “This is because,” “For instance,” and “As a result” help show relationships between ideas. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. In the first body paragraph, “Therefore” introduces a point that largely repeats the preceding explanation, and the sentence beginning “Therefore, students often choose…” is awkwardly joined. The conclusion repeats the introduction rather than drawing together the developed reasoning. To strengthen progression, make each example lead clearly to its consequence and use referencing that identifies exactly what “this” or “it” refers to.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “research resources,” “well-equipped lab,” “skilled professionals,” and “scientific development,” so the reader can follow the main subject. There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “adequate care” and “high level experiments.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems reduce precision: “advance research” should be “advanced research,” “loss interests” is not idiomatic, and “uneffective healthcare services” is incorrectly formed. “Educationalists prefer to choose other fields” also does not express the intended idea clearly. Aim to learn common academic collocations and check spelling and word forms carefully. More precise terms for research facilities, career choices, and consequences would help you explain the topic with greater flexibility.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including cause-and-effect clauses with “because” and “which,” and most of the message remains understandable. However, errors occur in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “students who wants” needs subject–verb agreement, while “This may results” should use the base verb after “may.” The construction “less number of students prefer… lead to…” lacks a clear grammatical link, and “the major effect that society facing today” is missing a relative verb form. There are also punctuation problems, including missing spaces after full stops and an extra space before a full stop. Practise building accurate sentences with modal verbs and relative clauses, and proofread each sentence for a complete subject–verb structure.

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