Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-19

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

The position of women has changed a great deal in many societies over the past 50 years. But these societies cannot claim to have achieved gender equality

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

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

Student answer (Band 7.5)

Over the last half-century, the socio-economic status of women worldwide has undergone a dramatic transformation. While it is undeniable that women have broken major historical barriers, I completely agree that true gender equality remains an unfulfilled milestone in modern society .On the one hand, the progress made over the past 50 years is highly significant, particularly regarding legal rights and professional integration. In many nations, legislative reforms have granted women equal voting rights, property ownership, and protection against overt workplace discrimination. Furthermore, women now outnumber men in higher education across several developed countries, leading to a substantial influx of female professionals in traditionally male-dominated industries like engineering, medicine, and politics. These advancements demonstrate a monumental shift toward a more inclusive society.However, despite these visible achievements, deep-rooted disparities still exist beneath the surface. The most prominent evidence of inequality is the persistent gender pay gap. Statistically, women are frequently paid less than their male counterparts for performing identical roles, a gap often exacerbated by the "motherhood penalty," where taking career breaks for childcare stalls professional advancement. Additionally, corporate leadership remains heavily skewed, with the "glass ceiling" continuing to restrict women from attaining the highest executive positions in major global firms.Furthermore, societal expectations regarding domestic responsibilities continue to place an unequal burden on women. Even when working full-time jobs, women statistically shoulder the vast majority of unpaid household chores and caregiving duties—a phenomenon frequently described as the "second shift." Until these cultural norms shift and systematic disparities in career progression are resolved, equality cannot be considered fully achieved.In conclusion, while the past 50 years have brought transformative changes to the legal and professional status of women, systemic inequalities remain deeply entrenched. True equality will only be achieved when professional compensation is entirely balanced and domestic burdens are shared equally.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response fully addresses all parts of the prompt, taking a clear and well-developed stance that true gender equality has not yet been achieved. The writer presents a robust and logically extended position throughout the essay. Key arguments—such as legal and professional advancements contrasted against the gender pay gap, the motherhood penalty, the glass ceiling, and unequal domestic burdens—are supported with relevant explanations and terminology like the 'second shift.' Ideas are thoroughly explored without unnecessary digression, aligning closely with the Band 8 descriptor for fully developing all aspects of the task with well-supported arguments.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The essay demonstrates a clear, logical organization with a smooth progression of ideas from past achievements to contemporary challenges. Paragraphing is used effectively and appropriately, with each body paragraph focusing on a distinct sub-theme. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'Additionally', and 'On the one hand' are managed well to guide the reader seamlessly through the argument. While minor improvements in spacing punctuation at paragraph transitions (e.g., 'society .On') could refine the mechanical presentation, overall cohesion is skillfully handled, fully satisfying the requirements for Band 7.5 to 8.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.5

The student displays a wide, fluent, and flexible lexical range that is highly appropriate for an academic context. Less common and sophisticated vocabulary items—such as 'socio-economic status', 'unfulfilled milestone', 'legislative reforms', and 'entrenched'—are utilized with a strong awareness of style and collocation. Word choice is generally precise, though minor formatting oversights exist (such as missing a space before 'On the one hand'). The student successfully avoids basic, repetitive language, showcasing the control and precision characteristic of a Band 8 performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.5

The writing features a wide variety of complex sentence structures, including conditional clauses, participle phrases ('taking career breaks for childcare'), and embedded relative clauses. The majority of sentences are grammatically error-free, with excellent control over punctuation and tense consistency throughout the historical and modern comparisons. Only occasional, non-systematic errors occur, such as the minor spacing punctuation lapse before 'On the one hand.' The high frequency of error-free complex structures firmly places this response in the Band 8 category.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.