Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-02

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)

Although, many people believes that taking a one year gap between school and university is convincing. I assert with this statement to somewhat and my justification regarding this view will be given in subsequent paragraphs.

Out of all the arguments for the statement that a one year gap should be take from after school to begin university, the strongest one to prove my notion is relaxation. To explain it, student spends a long time in schools from nursery to senior secondary. They continously do their study and sometime they feel boring from their study . If they get brake for one year after finishing school they can do another activities such as learn a new skill and travel which feel them relax.

In contrast, If a year gap is taken by students then they may lose their interest from study. Not only they may fall their confidence level aboput study but also connect to bad people in free time as they are young and have not proper mindset to understand things. To prove my notion i put an perfect example here is, from a study that was done in United Kingdom in year 2022 found that student are less willing to go back to study as they learn new skills after school. They want to earn. The fact betray is also logiocal. To expound it, they may face problems in traveling as they are not much mature in this age to go outside alone .

In conclusion, althought taking gap after school may liitle benefical but the problems may not be neglected of this such as they lose their interest from study and victum of betray .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task, presenting a position on whether taking a gap year is beneficial for returning students, though some ideas are developed only partially. For instance, the discussion on relaxation and skill-learning is introduced but remains somewhat limited, while the counterargument regarding losing interest in studying is supported with an attempted example from the UK. However, some arguments lack clear focus and tend to over-generalize, such as the claim that young people easily connect with bad people due to a lack of a proper mindset. The student clearly takes a partial stance, stating 'I assert with this statement to somewhat,' and maintains this throughout the essay, but the depth of extension for each supporting point is uneven, keeping the response at this level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, separating the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion logically. There is a discernible progression of ideas, moving from the benefits of a gap year to the drawbacks in contrast, and finally to a summary. Cohesive devices are used to signal shifts, such as 'Out of all the arguments,' 'In contrast,' and 'In conclusion.' However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally mechanical or faulty, as seen in abrupt transitions and awkward phrasing between sentences, such as 'To explain it, student spends a long time...' and 'To prove my notion i put an perfect example here is.' Paragraphing is used sufficiently, but internal cohesion within paragraphs could be smoother and less repetitive.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common items with varying degrees of success. There are noticeable lexical errors in word choice, word form, and spelling throughout the response, such as 'convincing' instead of convincing, 'continously', 'brake' instead of break, 'aboput' instead of about, 'logiocal', 'expound', 'liitle', 'benefical', and 'victum of betray'. While these inaccuracies do not entirely impede communication, they cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a limited lexical resource that struggles with precision, collocation, and accurate word spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a limited range of structures, featuring a mix of simple sentences and flawed attempts at complex forms. There are frequent grammatical errors in verb forms, tense usage, articles, plurals, and prepositions inside grammatical patterns. Examples of errors include 'Although, many people believes,' 'taking a one year gap should be take,' 'student spends' (missing plural/article), 'sometime they feel boring' (incorrect participle form), 'student are less willing' (agreement error), and 'they are not much mature in this age.' These frequent errors require the reader to decode the meaning and can cause difficulty, preventing the essay from achieving a higher level of grammatical control.

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