Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-06

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people feel that the government should pay the costs of running universities so that a university education will be free for anyone who wants it.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Give reasons for your answer, and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

People often argue that government should pay cost of university it will bring numerous benefit for student such as free education. might be bring advantages for pupils although it negatively impacting on the people.

To begin with, paying a cost of university might be use the student who cannot afford education. However, it brings immense drawbacks for other students for example, merit of marks will set on higher position. there will cut thrown competition among the students also, government cannot offer every pupil job so it will turn it out unemployment. Secondly, getting less job after years of hard work will impact negative on people mind possible it invite mental health problems. In addition, many people cannot pay attention on free stuff they often take a slightly light as result broken products, less attention and not focus on study. and government have to each time so it leads put extra financial burden on government.

On the other hand, providing excellence service will attract students towards educations like high-tech computer lab, advance classroom, placement make lot of student future bright. despite this free service people will not value. in addition, immense burden on government and government put this financial burden on their tax payer. instead of free education government should provide service via their schema and scholarship to the students. Secondly, government take step on the poverty line students providing less fee certificate so it encourage students towards study.

In conclusion, providing free education bring number of disadvantages than advantages, rather than this offering scholarship, government schemes will help students more.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position against free university education. However, the development of ideas is inconsistent. While you provide reasons such as financial burden and the potential lack of student motivation, some points are under-developed or unclear, such as the claim that 'merit of marks will set on higher position' or the link between free education and 'broken products'. To improve, ensure each paragraph focuses on a single, well-explained argument supported by a clear example. The conclusion effectively summarizes your stance, but the overall argument would benefit from more logical depth and less repetition of the 'financial burden' point.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your argument. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. For example, 'To begin with' and 'On the other hand' are used, but transitions within paragraphs are frequently missing or awkward, such as 'instead of free education government should provide service via their schema'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, making it difficult to track the subject of your sentences. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider range of linking words more naturally and ensure that each sentence flows logically from the previous one.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for a higher score. You rely on basic terms like 'stuff', 'good', or 'bad' (implied), and there are frequent errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'turn it out unemployment' or 'less job'. Some phrases are non-idiomatic, which occasionally hinders clarity. To improve, try to incorporate more academic collocations and synonyms. For instance, instead of 'pay a cost', use 'subsidize' or 'fund'. Expanding your range of topic-specific vocabulary related to education and economics will significantly boost your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that affect readability. Common issues include missing articles ('pay cost of university'), incorrect verb forms ('might be bring'), and subject-verb agreement errors ('government have to each time'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with several run-on sentences and missing commas. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of errors means that the grammatical control is limited. Focusing on basic sentence construction and proofreading for subject-verb agreement will help you achieve a higher score.

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