Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-29

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)

Education has become an essiental part of life, yet, it is going to expensive to get better education from universities. Some individuals assert that the cost of running univerisities should be paid by government. Hence, individuals can get free education without paying high fees. I partially agree with this view because higher education ensures equal opportunities for all citizens and fosters a highly skilled workforce that boots the national economy.

To begin with, higher education should be based on academic performance rather than fincial status. Paying high fees is an impossible thinf for lower class income people so that they can not be adimitted in a university. For example, talented people from lower income family can be successful in their life such as Dr. Ambedkar, Mr. Patel, and Ambani. Furthermore, high skilled people can improve the national ecomony. This is one of the primary resons to pay universities. If government invest amount of money to pay universities, it will help in economic growth of the country..

However, government should not pay the costs of running universities because it will affect on private universities who is running the business to provide education. It might be impacted on employement which create unemployement in society as well as there is a high chances to loose the job. It is not only about unemployement, but also about economy.

To conclude, paying the costs of univiersities by government is a great thought to help poor people and national economy, but, it would be affected to private sector. So, goverment can offer reimbursement to poor children.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is identifiable: you partly support public funding, citing equal access and economic benefits, while raising a concern about private universities. These points are relevant, but the response addresses the task only partially because the reasons are not developed evenly. The benefits are briefly explained, and the examples of Ambedkar, Patel and Ambani are named without showing how they support the case for government-funded universities. The opposing point—that public funding could affect private institutions and employment—is also asserted rather than explained, so the reader cannot see the likely scale or mechanism of this effect. Clarify what “partially agree” means in practice and support each main reason with a specific explanation or example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph supporting public funding, a contrasting paragraph, and a conclusion. Transitions such as “To begin with,” “However,” and “To conclude” help signal the stages of the argument. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear. For example, “This is one of the primary reasons to pay universities” follows the point about skilled workers but does not clearly connect the preceding ideas, and the private-sector paragraph moves from business effects to unemployment and the economy without explaining the links. Some connectors feel mechanical, and the conclusion introduces reimbursement without developing that proposal earlier. Make each paragraph follow one clear claim, explanation and example, and use referencing that makes relationships between ideas explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “academic performance,” “equal opportunities,” “highly skilled workforce,” and “economic growth.” These choices show some awareness of the language needed for an argument about education and public policy. However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision, such as “essiental,” “fincial,” “ecomony,” and “univiersities.” Some combinations are also unnatural or unclear: “it is going to expensive,” “pay universities,” and “reimbursement to poor children.” Use accurate topic-specific collocations and check spelling carefully; for instance, distinguish funding university operating costs from paying universities, and describe financial support as grants or tuition subsidies. More precise wording would make your ideas easier to follow.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use both simple sentences and some attempts at complex structures, including “I partially agree with this view because…” and “If government invest amount of money…, it will help…”. However, complex sentences are often faulty, and frequent errors in sentence structure, agreement, articles and punctuation can make parts difficult to understand. Examples include “it is going to expensive,” “Paying high fees is an impossible thing for lower class income people so that they can not be admitted,” and “private universities who is running.” The conditional sentence also needs a correctly formed subject and verb, while the conclusion contains an unclear construction: “it would be affected to private sector.” Practise building accurate clauses first, then combine them; check subject–verb agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries during revision.

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