Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-08-14

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

A huge number of students choose to study English independently on a self- study basis rather than attend a formal course. However, without the assistance of a teacher, students often find it difficult to manage their studies.

To what extent do you agree or disagree ?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In contemporary society, due to advancements of technology major number of students select to study English autonomously and self-study basis rather than attend conventional course. Having said that, without teachers help often students find problems during studying, so I believe it is personal choice for individual and this view has both advantages and drawbacks.

To begin with, many people decide to study English independently because it has many positive consequences. First and foremost, learner become confident and motivated after learning English by self-study and also learn about patience, hard work , and responsible because self-study boost their confidence and allow people to encourage try different things. For instance, a person who learn English by watching Youtube video, and a self correction, after completing learning phase, they influence to try new activities.

However, choosing self study rather than formal class, it has also disadvantages and many people faces obstacles. Firstly, without expert teachers and guidance pupils may experience difficulties and people who are not a patience person they often require tutors. In addition, process of learning is smooth and speed up on the ground that teachers. Tutors have a lot of experience of teaching, thus they can easily give solutions. For example, a person who attend traditional class for learning English, he might learn faster and receive proper knowledge.

To sum up, although students can learn without teacher or going to classes, I believe that students should use combination approach because both have own advantages and disadvantages. Nowadays, many people learn from the internet because of hectic schedule.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages of self-study and the necessity of teacher guidance. However, the position is somewhat neutral and lacks a strong, consistent argument. While the ideas are relevant, they are not fully developed; for instance, the point about 'patience' and 'hard work' is mentioned but not clearly linked to the effectiveness of self-study versus formal instruction. The conclusion introduces a 'combination approach,' which is a good idea, but it appears too late to be properly integrated into the main body paragraphs. To improve, ensure each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that directly supports your overall stance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. You use some cohesive devices such as 'To begin with,' 'However,' and 'In addition' to link your thoughts. However, some transitions are mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'on the ground that teachers.' Additionally, some sentences lack clarity due to grammatical issues, which occasionally disrupts the flow of information. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that the relationship between sentences is always explicit and natural.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to express your ideas clearly. You attempt to use some topic-specific vocabulary like 'autonomously,' 'conventional course,' and 'hectic schedule.' However, there are several instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'major number of students' (should be 'a large number'), 'teachers help' (missing possessive apostrophe), and 'not a patience person' (should be 'not a patient person'). These errors do not impede communication, but they limit the range and precision of your writing. Expanding your vocabulary to include more academic collocations would be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, they often contain grammatical errors, such as 'learner become confident' (subject-verb agreement) and 'process of learning is smooth and speed up on the ground that teachers' (incomplete clause). There are frequent errors in articles, pluralization, and word forms (e.g., 'responsible' instead of 'responsibility'). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall accuracy. Focusing on basic subject-verb agreement and consistent verb tenses will help improve your score.

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