Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-02

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 5.5)

I totally agree with the statement the government should must pay the costs of running the universties .As a lot of students just drop there studies after school as there parents arr not in good economic condition to do expenses on there further studies.Moreover the students don't even get jobs just after finishing there school because they donot have relevant skills and knowledge to do a well reputted and a job with standard salary . I saw many students who are working as a cleaner or working as assistants in garages .

I am sharing a reallife story of my uncle's son living in Delhi.Due to heavy losses in business my uncle became bankrupt. Altough , at this time the boy is in 12 th standard my uncle somehow borrow some money from relatives and able to manage his fees son's fees for that year .Now when He has completed his schooling ,he is not able to go to university to do further studies . He want to be an Engineer, but the university fees is ₹[redacted phone] per semester and the family is not in a good condition at the time. With a heavy heart he just took admission in Bachelor of Arts as he finds it affordable .Even he has to pay ₹80000 per semester from the last one month he is working as a part time worksr in a mall and hardly able to earn ₹12000 per month.

Atlast I want to say that if government took some steps in this conserned matter it is very beneficial for the students.The students will able to complete their studies and so on their dreams too.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your response addresses all parts of the task by clearly stating your position that you totally agree with government-funded universities. You provide relevant ideas to support your view, such as the financial burdens families face and the impact on students' career prospects, including the personal example of your uncle's son. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others, which keeps the response at this level. For instance, while the personal anecdote about your cousin is detailed, the broader arguments about societal or economic benefits are left somewhat limited. To reach a higher level, you should extend and develop all main ideas more thoroughly with robust supporting arguments rather than relying solely on a single personal narrative.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

Your essay has a coherent overall arrangement and a clear position presented from the beginning. You attempt to use cohesive devices and paragraphing to separate your introduction, body points, and conclusion. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty, and referencing is not always clear, as seen in abrupt transitions between sentences like "Moreover the students don't even get jobs" and the sudden shift into personal storytelling. Additionally, paragraphing is somewhat irregular, with the second body paragraph becoming overly long and dense. To improve, you should ensure smoother transitions between ideas, use a wider and more natural range of cohesive markers, and divide your thoughts into distinct, logically structured paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing you to communicate your main points about university fees and financial struggles. You make attempts at less common vocabulary, such as "bankrupt", "affordable", and "part-time worker". However, there are noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and spelling throughout the response, such as "universties", "arr", "repputted", "reallife", "Altough", and "conserned". These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they highlight a limited and minimally adequate lexical range. To achieve a higher score, you need to demonstrate greater precision in word selection, expand your range of less common academic vocabulary, and eliminate spelling mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures such as conditional and relative clauses, as seen in "if government took some steps in this conserned matter it is very beneficial". There are, however, some errors in grammar and punctuation, including tense inconsistencies, missing prepositions, and article errors, such as "the government should must pay", "drop there studies", and "borrow some money". Fortunately, these errors are occasional and rarely impede communication. To move up to the next band, you need to produce more frequent error-free sentences, maintain consistent control over verb tenses, and refine your complex grammatical structures for greater accuracy.

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.