Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-17

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)

Nowadays a huge proportion of students learn the english language independently and prefer to study by themselves instead of joining any formal course. It is beneficial however without the guidance of a coach they may find it challenging to manage their studies. I agree with the statement that a learner can face difficulties by themselves however the self study approach is convenient and helpful in this technological era.

This is a modern period where the facilities of technology has made the learning of new things easy. Therefore students often decides to learn the new languages by themselves. The language apps available in the mobile phones and other devices like laptops are the major initiative to learn the english by own. Moreover the platforms such as youtube contains the lactures of the english language course which have indeed made the learning effortless. There are also some students who are not able to join the academic classes as they have to travel or some of them cannot afford the course fee. Therefore self study is the more convenient way to learn for most of the students.For example one of my friends has taken a part in the ielts exam last year and prepare at home by herself with the help of the online lactures and practicing the mock tests available on the cambridge website. She got a great score and her hardwork abd consistent learning paid off.

Meanwhile a teacher assistance has a significant role because there are some points that are very challenging and the learner finds it hard to understand by himself. A coach provides a proper guidance and made the difficult tasks effortless by her knowledge.

Overall I believe that teachers are the great guiders however self learning plays a crucial role and builds confidence on yourself. A sfar as I am concerned i believe that where there is a will there is a way

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages of independent English learning and the necessity of teacher assistance. A clear position is stated in the introduction: 'I agree with the statement that a learner can face difficulties by themselves however the self study approach is convenient and helpful'. Main ideas are supported with relevant examples, such as the mention of a friend who prepared for the IELTS exam using online lectures and mock tests found on the Cambridge website. However, some ideas could be further extended and explored in greater depth, particularly the counter-argument regarding why teacher assistance is crucial. The response does touch upon all prompt requirements adequately, positioning it solidly in the mid-to-upper bands for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay presents a clear overall logical organization, moving from an introduction outlining the student's stance to body paragraphs exploring technological advantages, personal examples, and finally the role of a teacher. Paragraphing is used to separate distinct ideas, though the structure of some paragraphs could be more refined. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'Therefore', 'Moreover', and 'Meanwhile', though some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, with phrases like 'She got a great score' successfully pointing back to the friend mentioned earlier. While logical progression is maintained throughout, occasional awkward linking prevents the essay from reaching higher band thresholds for Coherence and Cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, with attempts to incorporate less common items and subject-related terms such as 'independently', 'convenient', 'technological era', and 'mock tests'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation inaccuracies, as seen in 'has taken a part in the ielts exam' (instead of 'taken part in' or 'sat the exam') and 'a teacher assistance' (instead of 'teacher's assistance'). Spelling errors also occur, such as 'lactures' instead of 'lectures' and 'abd' instead of 'and'. While the writer demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary to communicate simple and complex ideas, these lexical lapses and spelling mistakes restrict the score to this band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures like relative clauses ('courses which have indeed made the learning effortless') and conditional or concessive clauses. However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several punctuation and agreement errors, such as 'the facilities of technology has made' (subject-verb agreement error with 'has') and missing commas or capitalisation throughout. Instances like 'students often decides' and 'made the difficult tasks effortless by her knowledge' show basic slips in verb forms and pronoun agreement. Although these errors do not severely impede communication, their frequency prevents the writing from achieving a higher grammatical band score.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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