Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-04

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)

In the modern era, running universities plays an increasingly important role in our education system. While some individuals believe that the government should pay the costs of running universities, others hold an opposing view. This essay will discuss both perspectives before presenting a conclusion.

On the one hand, proponents argue that government should immediately pay all the costs of running universities. One major advantage is that education should be free for anyone who wants it, which facilitates to have a good education and a better community. In addition, free education can significantly support people who can't pay the costs of education. For example, a recent study conducted in the United States of America indicates that some people can't go to school, because they need to work to help their families.

On the other hand, critics believe that government can't pay anything, and people should contribute having a good education. One key reason is that some people will pay the costs of running universities for others they can't pay, as it negatively impacts the situation between the people. Another significant reason is that it protects the money of people they work hard to have it, which is crucial for public safety. An instance illustrating this is the situation in France, for example, rich people will leave the country, because they don't like to pay the costs of running anything in the country for people who don't work enough. Therefore, for them, a university education should be pay by everyone. When people get free education, they don't understand the importance of education.

In conclusion, while both perspectives are valid, I believe that the advantages of free university education outweigh the opposing arguments.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task by discussing both perspectives on government-funded universities and clearly presents the writer's own opinion in the conclusion. However, some ideas are under-developed or lack sufficient extension. For instance, the point about free education helping people who cannot afford it is supported by a brief example regarding people needing to work, but the reasoning remains somewhat limited. Similarly, the arguments against free tuition in the third paragraph, such as the claim that rich people might leave France, are expressed with a lack of clarity and logical extension. Note that the 10 words copied directly from the prompt were not counted toward the minimum length requirement. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to fully develop all ideas with more robust explanations and convincing supporting examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, and the body paragraphs are separated adequately. However, the progression of ideas is sometimes mechanical or disjointed. Cohesive devices are used, but they tend to be basic or slightly repetitive, such as 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand'. Furthermore, referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in the phrasing 'for others they can't pay' and 'the money of people they work hard to have it', which disrupts the logical flow between sentences. To improve, the writer should employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices and ensure that referencing is precise and natural throughout the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating basic terms related to education and government costs. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'proponents', 'opposing view', and 'significantly support', but these are accompanied by noticeable errors in word choice and collocation. Examples include 'which facilitates to have a good education' and 'a university education should be pay', where word forms are misused. While these lexical errors do not seriously impede communication, they reveal a limited control of precise vocabulary. To achieve a higher band score, the writer needs to expand their range of less-common lexical items and improve collocation accuracy.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures, relying mostly on simple sentences alongside a few attempts at complex forms. These attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty, leading to noticeable structural errors. Examples include 'contribute having a good education', 'people they work hard to have it', and 'university education should be pay by everyone'. There are also frequent errors in verb forms, prepositions within grammatical patterns, and word endings. These frequent grammatical errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a lack of firm control over complex sentence patterns. To progress, the writer must work on accurately forming complex sentences and reducing basic grammatical mistakes.

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.