Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-02

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)

Building Government funded universities has become a hot topic for debate across the nation. Half of the population is in favour of the proposal that the university should be budgeted by the government in order to make the education fairly accessible of all. While others are disagreeing with the proposed notion. I firmly agree with the suggestion to a larger extent with a balanced approach and strategic way to offer the benefits to the deserve individuals. This essay will express the view along with the reasons for my preference.

Supports of government funded universities suggest that this measure will make the higher education widely accessible to wider student populations as it will rule out the affordability factor. More people will be able to graduate with higher levels of education and build a good fortune for themselves along with building stronger financial support to country. In addition, more educated youth with lead to wiser population and build a great society to live.

On the other hand, such implementation would take away the portion of government budgeting from priority sectors such as health and research. Which as important as empowering individuals with higher education. Also this could lead to misuse of provided resources and education being taken granted and waste of allocation of funds.

To combat that I suggest that surely there should be government universities with planned procedures that only certain amount of population can use such facility and the eligibility should be assessed on the skills and knowledge regardless of their socioeconomic background through competitive exams. Furthermore, there should be set expectations for the individuals to maintain certain amounts of grades for keep being eligible for such benefit.

To encapsulate, there is ongoing debate about having government run universities for wider accessible higher education to cross out affordability factor and building more educated and wiser youth and building strong GDP for nation. I agree with such proposal to major extent with accessing the skills and knowledge of individual to get the such benefits and prevent the wastage of provided opportunities and by setting a remark to keep being benefited.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response7.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource6.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the task and maintains a clear position throughout. You have presented a balanced view by acknowledging the counter-argument before proposing a compromise. The ideas are relevant, such as the mention of 'affordability' and 'resource allocation', though some points could be developed further with more specific examples. For instance, mentioning a specific country or a hypothetical scenario would strengthen the argument. The conclusion effectively summarizes your stance, though it is slightly repetitive of the introduction. Overall, the response is well-structured and directly answers the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph has a central topic, and there is a progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'In addition', 'On the other hand', and 'To encapsulate' to link your thoughts. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as the sentence fragment 'Which as important as empowering individuals...' which lacks a clear subject. Improving the flow between sentences would help achieve a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'socioeconomic background', 'strategic way', and 'allocation of funds'. There are some instances of awkward phrasing or minor errors, such as 'fairly accessible of all' (should be 'to all') and 'taken granted' (should be 'taken for granted'). While you attempt to use less common vocabulary, some word choices are slightly imprecise. The range is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, but more precise collocations would enhance the sophistication of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'Supports of government' (should be 'Supporters'), 'budgeted by the government' (should be 'funded'), and 'more educated youth with lead to' (should be 'will lead to'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but there are some sentence fragments and minor errors in verb tense and preposition usage. These errors do not impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score.

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

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