Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-16

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)

The number of individuals believes that the fees for the universities could be granted by the government authorities so that all the citizens could be beneficial and able to gain higher education in their lives. I personally agree with this idea. The families with low financial income could take advantage of it and would be able to educate their children needs. The following paragraphs will discuss my aspects.

To commence with, education is the basic neccessity to get the dream job and to earn well. Some students are actually talented but quit their studies because the family is not able to pay the desired fee for their higher education. Taking an example of some rural regions in India, the individuals wants to learn, and have a dream to study in the university to achieve thier desired goal in life. Unfortunately, the socio-economic status of their family inhibits their abilities to grow up.

Furthermore, some parents are not literated and they does not consider study as a key factor of success, because they thinks sending their children for higher level education will ruin all of their savings. Adding to it, many families in the country has big family structure and they are not able to provide education to all of their kids because of low finances. For an example, they will only educate their older kids and not be able to provide same education to their younger ones.

In conclusion, if the government bodies take an initiative to payout the fees for colleges, numerous family would begin to think to educate their children as finances would not be a reason to refuse it. All the pupils from the family would get the identical chance to persuive their higher educations.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by clearly stating a position agreeing with government-funded universities and supporting it with relevant arguments regarding financial barriers for low-income families and rural students. The main ideas are present, such as discussing how talented students quit studies due to costs and how uneducated parents might view university expenses. However, the development of these ideas tends to remain somewhat general and brief, touching on points without fully extending them. For instance, the example regarding rural regions in India is relevant but remains descriptive rather than deeply explored. According to the Band 6 descriptors, the task is addressed with relevant ideas, though some are under-developed. Therefore, a score of 6.0 is appropriate.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, along with body paragraphs that attempt to logically sequence ideas. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To commence with', 'Furthermore', and 'In conclusion'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, expressions like 'The following paragraphs will discuss my aspects' are awkward, and paragraph transitions feel somewhat formulaic. Paragraphing is used, but internal flow between sentences occasionally stumbles due to mechanical linking rather than natural progression. This aligns closely with the Band 6 descriptors, where cohesion is sometimes faulty and referencing is not always clear.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating ideas relating to education, finance, and government support with words like 'socio-economic', 'inhibit', and 'finances'. However, there are noticeable word choice errors and incorrect word forms, such as 'neccessity' (spelling error), 'literated' instead of 'literate', and 'payout' instead of 'pay out' or 'cover'. Additionally, phrases like 'big family structure' and 'identical chance' indicate a limited control of collocation. Because the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the message despite frequent inaccuracies and spelling slips, it fits the Band 5 descriptors well.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like 'so that all the citizens could be beneficial'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak throughout the text, featuring frequent errors such as subject-verb agreement issues ('The number of individuals believes', 'some parents are not literated and they does not consider', 'many families in the country has') and pluralisation errors ('children needs', 'their younger ones'). There are also awkward phrasings like 'would begin to think to educate'. These errors frequently recur, causing some difficulty for the reader, though they do not completely impede communication. This matches the profile of Band 5.

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

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