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)

There are some people who believe that universities should be funded by government so that everyone can get the chance to chance study.

As far as my opinion is concerned, I am in favor of this demand because everyone should have the right to study whatever and wherever they want.

University degree is important in all aspects of life, including if someone wants success in professional life. Although other professional skills are also in demand but a degree add up to the knowledge. However, it is not possible for everyone to get admission in prestigious universities due to their higher fee structures. At this point many students gave up their dream of higher education and turned out to start an ordinary job to start a career. If government pay the costs of running universities then all these students might have the chance to fullfil their dreams. For example, one of my frients wanted to do a masters degree in biotechnoly but he was not able to pay the fees, so he ended up doing a diploma from an institute. If there were options to negogiate the fees then he must chose to have a masters degree in one of his favourites subject.

It is often said that only wealthy families are able to send their children to well known universities. However some students are lucky enough to get a scholarships but usally these opportunities are limited and not everyone is lucky enough to get benefit from these.

There might be some people who disagree with this proposal. The reason for this is that, they think it will increase the competition as there will be more higly graduate people in the market, but I consider it totally biasness. If someone has talent he/she will must take good place in the professional field. In conclusion, the government should make policies to pay the costs of running universities so that more students will be able to get higher education.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The candidate addresses all parts of the task by clearly stating a position in favor of government-funded higher education and supporting it with reasons and a personal example. The position is maintained throughout the response. Ideas are extended, such as discussing financial barriers and the implications of increased competition in the job market. However, some arguments remain slightly under-developed or rely on generalisations, such as the unsupported claim about wealthy families and scholarships. Additionally, there are minor awkward phrasings like 'chance to chance study' in the introduction. Overall, the response fulfills the requirements for Band 6.0 as it addresses all parts of the task with relevant, albeit occasionally limited and under-developed, ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, dividing the essay into an introduction, body paragraphs addressing different aspects of the argument, and a conclusion. Logical progression is generally maintained, though the transitions between ideas can feel a bit mechanical or abrupt. Cohesive devices such as 'Although', 'However', and 'In conclusion' are used to connect ideas, but referencing is occasionally faulty, such as 'At this point many students...' where the logical link is slightly loose. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately to group related points. This performance aligns well with the descriptors for a Band 6.0, featuring a coherent overall structure with some faulty or repetitive cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The candidate displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'prestigious universities', 'financial barriers', and 'biotechnoly' (biotechnology). However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'chance to chance study', 'add up to' instead of 'adds to', 'frients' (friends), 'negogiate' (negotiate), 'favourite subject', 'scholarships' (singular/plural mismatch), 'usally', 'higly graduate', and 'biasness' (bias). While these errors do not severely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5, as the vocabulary control falls short of the consistent precision required for a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The candidate uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional structures ('If government pay the costs...') and concessive clauses ('Although other professional skills are also in demand...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and verb forms, such as 'government pay' instead of 'the government pays', 'degree add up', 'students gave up', 'he must chose' instead of 'he would have chosen', and 'If someone has talent he/she will must take'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the grammatical inaccuracies in complex structures cause occasional disruption. This profile fits the Band 5.0 to 5.5 range, and a Band 5.0 is awarded due to the frequency of grammatical errors in complex sentence attempts.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.