Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-11-12

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)

Now a day's young people choose to gain work experience between finishing school and starting university because they think that non-academic life experience offers a lot of benefits when they return again in school. I completely agree and in this essay i will support my opinion with example.

Firstly, non-academic life experience helps people to gain practical knowledge correspondance their relevant works. For example, most students after finishing schools go for learning new skills to gain practical knowledge like computer based skills includes office management, web development and so on. In other words students spend their time on learning for proper grip on practical working, that's why i agree practical working give a lot of benefits in life.

Another reason why i agree with the experience of non-academic life offers a benefits on returning back to education is that a large number of young peoples after learning new skills and gaining work experince helps in life to make their self independent before starting universities. They motivate their self by gaining experience in practical working to be an independent person. It offers a benefits in education to manage things, manage their own tasks and workings.

In conclusion, although it is a common belief that young people choose to gain work experience between finishing school and starting university because they think that non-academic life experience offers a lot of benefits in education like they can manage their tasks using office and learn by their mistakes by finding and solving problems. Personally, I think non-academic life offers more benefits when people gain practical working experience.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you state, “I completely agree,” and maintain that view in the body and conclusion. You also give relevant reasons, including practical skills and becoming independent, with examples such as learning office management or web development. However, the response only partly develops the task. The prompt refers to both work experience and travel, but your discussion focuses almost entirely on learning skills and practical work; you do not explain how travel might benefit students when they return to education. The link between gaining skills and improved academic performance is also asserted rather than demonstrated. Develop each reason with a specific explanation or example of how it helps at university, and address both forms of a year out.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs signalled by “Firstly” and “Another reason,” and a conclusion. This makes the main line of argument easy to identify. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes repetitive: the first body paragraph repeats the idea of gaining practical knowledge without showing a distinct next step, while the second repeats independence and practical experience. Some links are mechanical, and references such as “It offers a benefits” do not clearly identify what “it” refers to. The conclusion also introduces managing tasks and learning from mistakes without developing these points earlier. To improve, organise each paragraph around one clear reason, explain it in sequence, and use precise references to connect ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use a small set of relevant terms, including “practical knowledge,” “work experience,” “independent,” and “web development,” so the topic is generally understandable. However, vocabulary is limited and several phrases are inaccurate or unnatural, which sometimes makes the intended meaning difficult to follow. For example, “practical knowledge correspondance their relevant works” and “practical working” are not natural collocations, while “a benefits” and “young peoples” show problems with word forms. Spelling errors such as “experince” and “universities” used where “university” is intended also reduce accuracy. Build a wider range of natural phrases for skills, employment, travel, and academic benefits, and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, including clauses introduced by “because” and “although,” and the reader can usually follow your main position. However, the range is limited, and complex sentences are often not controlled accurately. Examples include “a large number of young peoples … helps,” where the subject and verb do not agree, and “It offers a benefits,” where the article and noun form are incorrect. There are also errors in sentence construction and punctuation, such as the long, awkward sentence beginning “In conclusion, although it is a common belief…”. Capitalisation of “I” is inconsistent. Practise building shorter, accurate sentences first, then combine ideas using subordinate clauses while checking agreement, articles, and punctuation.

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

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