Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-30

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)

From a critical perspective, a group of people feel that the ministry has to pay the fees to run universities so the educations will be free of cost for whoever wants to take admission. This may raise a range of argument from the both sides, however, in my opinion, I agree with this notion and will discuss my claim in ensuing paragraphs.

The foremost argument to justify my stand is that, not all families can afford to send there children to universities for higher education because the universities fees are high compare to a normal institute, so middle class families could not afford and could not able to provide university education to there loved ones. To cite an example, Germany has introduced a scheme in which all universities education is free of cost for everyone even if household income is low.

Furthermore, the other reason to prove my point is that, if the council is funded the universities, it benefits the whole country growth and government itselfs. If the more students passout from universities is which helps country to growth. Moreover, sometimes univesities higher fees can force students to take a large loans and that sometimes cause debt on student. Without tuition fees, young people can start their career with less financial pressure.

In conclusion, I strongly agree that country cabinet should responsible for everyone's universities fees for higher education. This is because not everyone can pay high fees and sometimes students get stuck on tuition fees debt, which clearly demonstrate the validity of my position.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The candidate addresses the prompt by clearly stating their position that the government should cover university tuition fees. The main ideas are supported with reasons and a relevant example, such as mentioning Germany's scheme. However, some arguments are slightly repetitive, particularly the points regarding debt and financial pressure which overlap across the body paragraphs. While the prompt is adequately addressed and a clear stance is maintained throughout, the development of ideas could be extended further to achieve a higher band. Overall, the response meets the baseline requirements for Task Achievement at a Band 6 level, as it addresses all parts of the task with relevant ideas, though some areas remain somewhat under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, and the use of paragraphs is visible. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as 'The foremost argument', 'Furthermore', and 'In conclusion'. However, there are noticeable mechanical errors in cohesion and referencing, such as 'if the council is funded the universities' and 'is which helps country to growth'. Additionally, referencing is sometimes unclear, and the flow between sentences is occasionally disrupted by awkward phrasing. While the logical progression is generally maintained, the frequency of faulty or mechanical cohesive links keeps this criterion at a Band 5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student attempts a range of vocabulary suitable for the task, including phrases like 'critical perspective', 'higher education', and 'financial pressure'. However, there are frequent word choice and collocation errors throughout the essay, such as 'send there children' (their), 'universities fees' (university fees), 'passout' (graduates), and 'country cabinet should responsible' (cabinet should be responsible). These lexical slips and inaccuracies demonstrate a limited control over less common vocabulary and word forms. Although meaning is generally conveyed despite the errors, the density of incorrect word choices restricts the score to Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional structures and relative clauses. However, the text contains a high frequency of grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, including 'educations will be free', 'fees are high compare to', 'middle class families could not afford and could not able', and 'if the council is funded the universities'. These persistent errors in verb forms, prepositions, and active/passive voice occasionally impede communication and show a lack of reliable control over complex structures. Therefore, the grammatical accuracy aligns best with the Band 5 descriptors.

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