Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Write about the following topic:

Many young people choose to take a year out between finishing school and starting university in order to gain work experience or to travel. The experience of non-academic life this offers benefits the individual when they return to education.

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 5.5)

Nowadys, many young people take their decisions of life very smartly.They decide precisely what they do and what not in future. It is widely believed that some young people take 1 year between school and starting University for various purposes like gaining new skill or other expertise knowledge. I am strongly agree with this many extent. Because academic knowledge only give the basic results of my study not practical knowledge. Practical knowledge will be gained by work experience that will be achieved by practically which needs time. Besides gaining knowledge, some gap is important for relaxation of mind, keeping away from academic responsibilities and stress. One of major advantages of travelling is its helps us to explore many things like different tradition, customs and rules which broden our wisedom which always not found in bookish knowledge. However, one year gap has some major drawbacks. For instance, long gap can be kept us from book, study. It can be caused student faced student difficulties to returing back their study, feeling of monotonous. For instance, after a long break they cannot concentraed their study, work and not cope with their regular routine that they once follows. On the other hand, gaining knowledge in one year that can be helpful their acdemic career by skillful their work, understand the things easily.

In conclusion, take one year gap from study helps to explore many things by travelling and also gaining expertise in various skill which helped a student in their academic life but too much gap can be contradrictory by keeping away from study.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You take a position in favour of a gap year, saying you “strongly” agree, and give relevant reasons: work experience can provide practical knowledge, while travel can expose students to different traditions. You also acknowledge a drawback, explaining that returning to study may be difficult. However, the position is not consistently clear: the opening discusses young people making decisions generally, and the phrase “I am strongly agree with this many extent” does not clearly state the degree of agreement. Several points are asserted rather than explained, especially how work experience or travel specifically improves later academic performance. Develop one or two examples in more detail and make the extent of your agreement explicit throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has an identifiable overall shape: it introduces the topic, presents benefits and a drawback, and ends with a conclusion. Linking expressions such as “Besides,” “However,” and “In conclusion” help signal these stages. However, progression within the main discussion is uneven, and ideas sometimes run together. For example, the sentence beginning “For instance, long gap…” moves from difficulty returning to study to concentration and routine without clearly separating the points. The repeated use of “For instance” and the abrupt “On the other hand” make connections feel mechanical or unclear. Use distinct paragraphs for benefits and drawbacks, and connect each example directly to the claim it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “work experience,” “practical knowledge,” “academic responsibilities,” and “tradition, customs and rules.” These choices show that you can communicate the main subject. However, the range is limited and several inaccurate word choices or collocations make meaning difficult to follow, such as “take their decisions of life,” “expertise knowledge,” and “feeling of monotonous.” Spelling and word-form errors, including “Nowadys,” “broden,” and “wisedom,” also reduce clarity. Aim to learn useful topic phrases as complete collocations and check spelling and word forms carefully. More precise vocabulary would help you explain the benefits and risks without relying on repeated general terms such as “knowledge” and “things.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, including a contrast between benefits and drawbacks and a relative clause in “the routine that they once follows.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and frequent errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction sometimes make the meaning hard to follow. Examples include “I am strongly agree,” “academic knowledge only give,” and “long gap can be kept us from book, study.” Some sentences also contain several clauses without clear grammatical control, particularly the explanation of returning to study after a break. Practise building accurate simple sentences first, then combine them using subordinate clauses. Check subject–verb agreement and verb patterns, and use full stops to separate complete ideas.

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