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)

Obviously, it is true that large number of students choose to study english independently on a self-study basis rather than attending a formal course. Students find it challenging without the assistance of a teacher, they often try to manage their studies at their own. I do believe that students can learn english without the help of professor or teacher.

At present, children at very early age become used to in using digital devices including, smartphone, laptop and television. While using such devices they become capable of navigating mobile screen without learning formal english. When they become adult, they can access many websites, software, books, novels, newspaper, and applications to enhance their english. Similarly, many tutorial videos are available in youtube where all the formal knowledge of english can be gained. For example, I am the student of government school in Nepal, where majority of subjects are taught in Nepali language. Learning proper english in school was almost impossible, at first, I tried to learn it with my siblings. After the basic english, I learned english through tutorial videos, books, english cartoon, and movies, where I built strong foundation of english language.Likewise, hardwork and dedication to learn the language helps to be more profecient in english.

In contrast, it becomes difficult to learn english language without the assistance of teacher, while managing their studies at the same time. Students find it challenging to english as english is more complicated than it is perceived.

To conclude the statement, it might be tough to learn english language but it is not impossible. If student focus on the foundation of english, it becomes easier to understand the language.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position regarding whether students can study English independently. The writer agrees that self-study is feasible and supports this view with personal experience and logical arguments about digital access and tutorial videos. However, some ideas lack full extension, and certain counterarguments in the third paragraph are slightly underdeveloped and unclear, such as the sentence 'Students find it challenging to english as english is more complicated than it is perceived.' Overall, the response meets the general requirements of the prompt well enough to secure a Band 6.5, leaning towards Band 7 for its clear personal stance and relevant examples, though the overall development remains somewhat basic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a recognisable introduction, body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. Logical connectors such as 'Similarly', 'For example', and 'In contrast' are utilised to guide the reader through the argument. Paragraphing is used, though the body paragraphs are quite dense and could be broken down more effectively. Referencing is generally clear, but mechanical cohesive devices sometimes appear repetitively, such as 'When they become adult' and 'Learning proper english in school was almost impossible, at first...'. Progression is present, but the transitions between paragraphs can feel abrupt at times, keeping the performance within the Band 6.0 territory.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, incorporating words like 'independently', 'navigating', 'foundation', and 'profecient' (spelled incorrectly as 'profecient'). There are several noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and capitalization, such as lowercase 'english', 'government school' instead of 'public school', and the awkward phrasing 'become used to in using'. Less common lexical items are attempted with mixed success. While communication is not impeded and the meaning remains clear throughout, the frequency of lexical inaccuracies prevents the score from reaching higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures such as 'If student focus on the foundation of english, it becomes easier to understand the language.' However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('If student focus'), missing articles ('student of government school', 'without assistance of teacher'), and prepositional use ('used to in using'). Punctuation and sentence boundaries occasionally falter, leading to run-on sentences. Despite these errors, the sentences remain largely comprehensible, placing the response firmly at Band 5.5.

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

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