Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-08-03

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)

Many individuals opt to take a year off between quitting school and commencing university to get experience or to travel. This one year experience offers benefits when they return to studies.From my perspective, I am not in the favour of wasting one year as it is non productive and students can indulge in other activities beside education and will loss concentration on studies.

To begin with, although one year gap between leaving school and starting university provide many benefits, such as people will get the chance to unwind themselves by travelling to different cities and countries. People can do productive activities like learning new skills, enrol in several courses and get admission in academies to cover their syllabus before start of classes.

Despite having benefits, there are some drawbacks including people will utilize this time in unethical activities like wasting time with their friends instead of doing studies. They lack interest and concentration in their studies because they don’t have proper study plan and supervision of teachers . Some students find it hard to study by their own and totally depend on their teachers for learning.

In my opinion, students should not take a year gap as it it useless to waste such a long duration by staying at home rather than using this time in studies.

In conclusion, many people prefer to take a year gap to spend some quality time in travelling and to get admission in various skill learning courses. However, i believe that students don’t utilize their time in productive activities and distract easily.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout, arguing against the gap year. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention both benefits and drawbacks, the arguments remain superficial. For instance, the claim that students will 'indulge in unethical activities' is a strong assertion that lacks specific examples or logical expansion. To improve, ensure that each body paragraph provides a well-reasoned explanation followed by a concrete example to support your stance. The conclusion effectively summarizes your view, but the overall depth of the argument needs to be more consistent to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'To begin with', 'Despite having benefits', and 'In conclusion', to link your points. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or repetitive. Additionally, the transition between the benefits and the drawbacks could be smoother. To improve, try to vary your linking words and ensure that the sentences within each paragraph are more tightly connected to the main topic sentence of that paragraph.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your meaning clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'non-academic life', 'syllabus', and 'supervision'. However, there are instances of imprecise word choice, such as 'quitting school' (which sounds like dropping out rather than graduating) and 'unethical activities' (which is likely too strong a term for simply wasting time). The range of vocabulary is somewhat limited, and there is some repetition of basic words. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise collocations and a wider range of academic vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the flow of the text. Examples include 'I am not in the favour of' (should be 'in favor of'), 'beside education' (should be 'besides'), 'will loss concentration' (should be 'lose'), and 'study by their own' (should be 'on their own'). Additionally, there are some punctuation and article errors. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of prepositions. Proofreading your work for these common errors would significantly improve your score.

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