Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-20

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 6.5)

It is undeniable that higher education is extremely significant for all individuals, regardless of financial ability. Many believe that government should provide sufficient funds to universities to enable free education to all citizens. I agree with this opinion to certain extent, as it would allow every individual to receive a bachelor's degree.

To commence with, nowadays, graduating from any college or university is quite expensive because of various kinds of expenditures invested on infrastructure, maintenance, and modern equipments. It is essential for government to offer funds to all affiliated educational institutions to allow free education to students, which would be beneficial to their career prospects without taking stress of tuition fee. Some engineering students in India, for instance, unable to receive tertiary education because of exorbitant education costs. Therefore, this problem would only resolved if central government allocate enough funds to deliver education, especially to economically weaker section.

Furthermore, this type of initiative would not only express the equality amongst the learners, but also reduce the stress of students they faced due to steep college costs. Although it can put burden on government to some extent, it would provide social equality, and facilitates low-wage families. For example, Abdul Kalam, who was the President of India, exemplify this perfectly because he belongs to extremely poor family, and obtained university education with the assistance of government's scholarship.

To conclude, while it can effect the country's economic structure, it is quite necessary today to deliver free education to every home for the betterment of the individuals as well as the country. Therefore, I agree to a large extent that university education should be free.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. The arguments regarding financial accessibility and social equality are relevant and supported by examples, such as the mention of engineering students in India and the reference to A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited; for instance, the counter-argument regarding the economic burden on the government is mentioned but not fully explored or refuted. To reach a higher band, you should provide more depth in your analysis of the potential consequences of your proposed policy.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To commence with', 'Furthermore', and 'To conclude', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are instances where the flow between sentences could be smoother. For example, the connection between the example of Abdul Kalam and the preceding point about social equality could be more tightly integrated. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate and the progression of ideas is clear.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'exorbitant', 'infrastructure', and 'affiliated'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'modern equipments' (equipment is uncountable) and 'take stress of tuition fee' (should be 'without the stress of tuition fees'). While you attempt to use less common vocabulary, these occasional errors prevent a higher score. Focusing on the correct usage of uncountable nouns and more natural collocations will help improve your lexical precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'this problem would only resolved' (missing 'be'), 'express the equality amongst' (should be 'promote equality'), and 'it can effect' (should be 'affect'). Additionally, there are issues with subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'belongs to extremely poor family'. These errors occur frequently enough to be noticeable but do not impede communication. Increasing the variety of error-free complex structures will improve your score.

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

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