Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-30

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)

A very large number of students decide to study english seperately on a self study basis instead of attend a formal clases or course. However, without the guidance of a teacher, students often find many difficulties to manage their studies. I agree that without teacher's assistance students may find difficulties in their studies. In coming paragraphs i will explain my experiences and knowledge about this statement.

First on the one hand students find shortcuts to conquer subjects in a short period of time but they made a mistake by choose to study individually and on a self study basis. They find many challenges by studying alone because they did not have much knowledge about this particular subject. If we talk about subject like English the content is so wide that we cannot cover it by ourselves and we surely need assistance of professional teacher. They will teach us many grammar rules and sentence structures that we cannot learn efficiently by ourselves. For example someone who prepares for exams like CSS, IPS and more like these they need to learn english more than average by preparation and they definately need for assistance and guidance from professionals.

On the other hand some students also seek knowledge of English from internet by ourselves but they only learn what they wanted to which is very limited instead teacher knows how much content should student have to gain which is usefull for their further studies. Furthermore self-study also beneficial for students when they donot have to attend any exams or tests.

To conclude that self-study of English subject is also beneficial for those who will not have interest in taking exams in the future but assistance of teacher is very important for those students who is not very good to manage their studies and specially English demands so much content or vast knowledge about structures and grammar.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the extent of agreement with the statement regarding independent English study versus formal courses. The writer takes a clear position in the introduction stating, 'I agree that without teacher's assistance students may find difficulties in their studies.' Relevant ideas are presented, such as the vastness of English grammar rules and the limitation of self-directed online learning. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the examples given regarding exams like CSS and IPS are somewhat brief, and the explanation tends to circle back to the same points rather than fully extending them. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, fitting the criteria for a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion, though paragraphing is sometimes unconventional. For instance, the second paragraph is quite long and encompasses multiple distinct points. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'First on the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'To conclude', but they are occasionally mechanical or slightly awkward in phrasing. Referencing is generally clear, but mechanical errors in linking ideas sometimes disrupt the natural flow of progression between sentences, placing this performance at a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting less common items such as 'professional teacher', 'conquer subjects', and 'vast knowledge'. However, there are numerous word choice and spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'english' instead of 'English', 'seperately' instead of separately, 'attend' instead of 'attending', and 'classes' spelled as 'clases'. Phrasing like 'learn english more than average' and 'content should student have to gain' demonstrates restricted control over collocation and word formation. These lexical inadequacies keep the vocabulary score at a Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional structures and relative clauses (e.g., 'If we talk about subject like English the content is so wide that we cannot cover it by ourselves'). However, there is a high frequency of grammatical errors, including missing articles ('assistance of professional teacher'), subject-verb agreement issues ('student have to gain', 'student is not very good'), and punctuation errors. Run-on sentences and fragments, such as 'To conclude that self-study... is also beneficial...', further reduce grammatical accuracy. The frequency of these errors places the text firmly at a Band 5.0.

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

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