Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-14

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 5.0)

Students usually take one year gap after their

degree to start the next degree. Students think experience provide them some benefits that help them to excel in their career.

I think experience is really very important for people. It is useless for students to start their next degree right after completing the first degree. In practical life experience is required in every field. When students come into the practical life and want to start their job, they start facing alot of challenges. Every company wants experienced and trained employee for their company. Students start facing major heartbreak, despite of their qualifications with good grades.

People should take a gap and start travelling to explore the world. It will help them to get relaxed and refreshed. After returning, they will focus more on their studies or work. Travelling also help them in their grooming, confidence, manners and attiquetes.

So, I think Students should start their practical life beside their student life, so when they completed their qualification they will have enough experience to join any multinational company. Otherwise company will offer them an unpaid internship and they will have to wait for 1 year to start their professional life.

I strongly agree with the fact that it is suitable for people to take a year out between finishing school and starting university in order to get experience or for travel purposes. It will enhance the practical knowledge of people, as travelling isalso. ery essential to gain knowledge.Exploration is the best thing to learn new things.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the benefits of taking a gap year between school and university for travel and work experience. A position is presented, stating that experience and travel are valuable and help individuals in their practical lives and future careers. However, the development of ideas lacks depth and contains some confusion regarding the timing of the gap year, as the writer initially refers to taking a 'year gap after their degree to start the next degree' before later addressing the prompt's focus on finishing school and starting university. While main ideas are present, such as gaining confidence and avoiding unpaid internships, they are somewhat repetitive and under-developed, aligning best with Band 5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay displays some overall organization, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding stance. However, there is a lack of clear progression within the body sections, and paragraphing is disjointed. For instance, the final sentence of the essay abruptly introduces new phrasing without a smooth transition. Cohesive devices are basic and sometimes misused, such as 'despite of' instead of 'despite', and referencing can be unclear, such as shifting pronouns between students, people, and companies. Overall, the flow is somewhat mechanical, which places this aspect in the Band 5 category.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, including terms like 'practical life', 'multinational company', and 'exploration'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'major heartbreak' to describe job market difficulties, 'attiquetes' with a spelling error, and 'travelling isalso. ery essential'. Less common vocabulary is attempted but frequently inaccurate, leading to occasional strain for the reader. These features reflect the descriptors for Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentence forms, but control is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, such as missing articles ('start job'), subject-verb agreement issues ('experience provide them'), incorrect prepositions ('start travelling', 'despite of'), and punctuation issues. While meaning can generally be extracted, the high frequency of errors across basic and complex structures causes noticeable difficulty for the reader, placing this performance at Band 5.

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

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