Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-08-01

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)

Most of young teenager believe that after finishing the schooling the trip is beneficial to gain experience in work or travel on other places.I completely agree with this viewpoint.This essay will discuss the benefits of this notion with lucid conclusion.

To begin with,after teens complete their schooling they want to relax their mind so many of them decided to go on long term trips before joining universities.To be more precise,when pupils go different places it helps them to explore more about the different culture and traditions.

Similarly,

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response is significantly under-length at only 87 words, failing to meet the 250-word minimum requirement. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed. While you state your position clearly in the introduction, the development of ideas is severely limited. You mention the benefits of travel, but the essay stops abruptly after only two paragraphs, failing to provide a full argument or a conclusion. To improve, you must expand your ideas with specific examples and ensure you cover all parts of the prompt, including the 'work experience' aspect mentioned in the task instructions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is too short to demonstrate a clear logical progression or effective paragraphing. While you use basic cohesive devices like 'To begin with' and 'Similarly', the text ends abruptly, which disrupts the overall flow. To reach a higher band, you need to develop your paragraphs fully, ensuring that each point is supported by evidence and linked logically to the next. The current structure is incomplete, making it difficult to assess your ability to manage cohesion over a full-length essay.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for basic communication, but it lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. You use simple phrases like 'relax their mind' and 'go different places'. To improve, you should incorporate more academic collocations and precise terminology related to the topic, such as 'gap year', 'professional development', or 'cultural immersion'. The current range is too limited to demonstrate the flexibility needed for a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There are several grammatical errors that affect the clarity of your writing. For example, 'Most of young teenager believe' should be 'Most young teenagers believe', and 'the trip is beneficial' is vague in this context. You also have punctuation issues, such as missing spaces after periods. While you attempt some complex sentence structures, they are often marred by errors in subject-verb agreement and word order. Focusing on basic sentence accuracy and proofreading for small errors will help you improve your score.

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