Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-06

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 6.0)

In today's modern world, it is a topic of debate whether higher education should be free for everyone or whether everyone has to pay their own fees. In my opinion, university education should not be entirely free, because the government has to bear all the expenses and other important sectors such as healthcare, transportation will be neglected.

On the one hand, people who argues that the government should make university education free because of low financial background many brilliant students are not able to get their choice of courses. They have to leave their studies and for livelyhood they join jobs which are very low according to their intelligence Moreover, people think that if education is free for everyone it will create unity and equality in the community. In addition to this, educated community brings more prosperity, employment which leads to less crime as well.

On the other hand, some people are against this notion as they think this will increase the tax limit on individuals. Furthermore, the rich societies will take more advantage as they do not have to pay the fees. Apart from this, the government has to take care of all the sectors equally, but if the entire burden of single sector comes on government's shoulders, it will impact the society in negative way.

In my opinion, there should be some scholarships and bursary awards for intelligent student so that they can pay half of the fees. Moreover, free education will decrease the value of the degree and student will not pay full attention but if they have to pay some of the amount they can sense the feeling of responsibility.

To conclude, the education should not be free as it will negatively impact the other sectors and growth of the economy. However, there should be scholarships, less tution fees, and schemes should be introduced to overcome the burden of capable students.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear: you disagree with making university education entirely free, while supporting scholarships and reduced fees for students who need help. You address both sides, including access for students from low-income backgrounds and the possible effect on taxes and other public services. These are relevant reasons, but some are asserted rather than explained. For example, the claim that free education would reduce the value of degrees needs support, and the point about scholarships for “intelligent” students could be framed more clearly around financial need or academic merit. To strengthen the response, develop fewer arguments with specific explanations or examples, and make the link between government spending and the effects on other sectors more precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, paragraphs presenting opposing views, your own position, and a conclusion. Signposts such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “To conclude” help readers follow the progression. However, some connections between ideas are mechanical, and several points are grouped together without showing how one leads to the next. In the first body paragraph, for instance, access to courses, equality, prosperity, employment, and crime are listed in quick succession. Use clearer explanation and referencing to connect these claims, and avoid repeating the same contrast between free education and government costs in both the introduction and conclusion. This would make the progression more fluent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate your main ideas, including “higher education,” “scholarships,” “tax,” and “burden.” There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “bear all the expenses” and “impact the society.” However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or unnatural, which limits precision: “low financial background,” “rich societies,” and “for livelyhood they join jobs” do not express the intended meanings naturally. Spelling errors such as “livelyhood” and “tution” also reduce accuracy. Build a more reliable range of phrases for discussing income, public funding, and employment, and check spelling and collocations during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “because,” “as,” and “if,” and the overall meaning is generally understandable. However, errors in agreement, articles, sentence boundaries, and punctuation remain noticeable. For example, “people who argues” should use a plural verb, while “intelligent student” needs a plural form or an article. The sentence beginning “They have to leave their studies” runs into the next idea without appropriate punctuation, and “it will impact the society in negative way” has problems with article use. Practise checking subject–verb agreement and sentence boundaries, and revise articles and plural nouns. More accurate control of these patterns would make your complex sentences clearer.

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