Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-12

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)

A large number of individual hold a view that young generation students should choose to obtain a year gap between after completing their school and starting university, because this offers benefits to the children of non-academic life to gain work experience or to travel and create more mature when they return to university education. I partly agree with this statement, because this provide both positive and negative development.

Firstly, when a school child take a year gap after finishing academic life this slightly improved the overall development of the pupil. People could learn new skills and abilities which is most essential for future. For example, working on some organization of factory provides the experience, thus also improve communication skills, cooperation and problem solving knowledge which is highly necessary for every individuals. Another positive development would be Enhanced Maturity and Independence. Whenever, child become starting to spend time on unfamiliar environment, young adults are able to manage their own finances, cook, self-reliance makes the transition to university life much smoother.

On the other hand, the primary challenges would be Loss of Academic Momentum. When children gives one years gap on others activities without studying, which negatively effect on student study grades, furthermore Students may find it difficult to adjust back to strict study routines, writing essays, or sitting for exams. In addition,stress of Financial Strain. Traveling without a proper budget can lead to debt before university even begins.

In conclusion, although taking a gap year cause students to lose their academic focus and difficult to return to adjust back on regular study but it also provide valuable work experience and opportunities to travel, learn about others culture and skills use for regular life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of taking a gap year before university and clearly states a partial agreement position in the introduction. The ideas are generally relevant, covering skill development, independence, academic momentum, and financial strain. However, some ideas are under-developed and rely on generalisations rather than detailed explanation or robust examples. For instance, the mention of working in an organization or factory is very brief. The conclusion successfully summarises the main points. Overall, the response meets the requirements for Band 6.0 as it addresses all parts of the prompt with relevant ideas, though development is somewhat limited in places.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is structured into four distinct paragraphs including an introduction, two body paragraphs representing opposing views, and a conclusion, showing a clear overall arrangement. Cohesive devices are used to signal progression, such as 'Firstly', 'Another positive development', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion'. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty, as seen in awkward transitions like 'When children gives one years gap on others activities without studying, which negatively effect on student study grades'. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but referencing and logical flow within sentences occasionally falter due to grammatical interference. This performance aligns closely with Band 6 descriptors for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'academic momentum', 'unfamiliar environment', and 'Financial Strain'. However, there are noticeable errors in word formation, collocation, and choice, such as 'individual' instead of 'individuals', 'obtain a year gap' instead of 'take a gap year', 'create more mature' instead of 'become more mature', and 'others culture' instead of 'other cultures'. While these errors occasionally distract the reader, they do not impede overall communication. The lexical range is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, supporting a Band 5.5 to 6.0 score, which is rounded appropriately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in structure. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, particularly regarding subject-verb agreement ('A large number of individual hold', 'child become starting', 'When children gives'), tense consistency ('which slightly improved'), and preposition use. Punctuation is also problematic in places, such as comma splices ('Whenever, child become starting to spend time on unfamiliar environment, young adults are able...'). These errors can cause occasional difficulty for the reader, fitting the Band 5.0 descriptors well.

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

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