Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-05

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)

In today's contemporary world, Many teenagers choose a year drop between finishing school and starting university in order to gain work experience or to travel. The experience of non-academic life have many benifits to person when they return to education. while it has also some disadvantages. In my opinion, taking break is more important for a student after school.

After finishing school, individual have many confusions and stress of old exams and results after studying for long period. After this person need some break, so in this case, if a person goes to travel or gain some experience at certain place. They can have a idea about what to do in future and which course will be better for them. While it also benifits students who are in depression or aniety. In travelling, for an example, if a person travel for few months domestic or internationally can explore new culture and things suggesting idea how the world is and what to do. In other case having experinece in certain occupation can help to decide future goals. Where a person having interest in certain area can knows about particular ideas.

On the other hand, in some of the areas i will disagree because after school and specially after higher secondary students get around three to fours months of vacation which is pretty enough. Altough, dropping study can also affect to the mindset of the students for education. For an example, if a person after long time not involving education can lost interest in study and may not join the university latter. Moreover, taking one year break can also be a waste of time for some individuals due to its age or any other reasons.

In conclusion, taking break is more effective rather than going university after school but it has some drawbacks also. Although its all about students mindset that how they are thinking about education. In my case, I would rather like to take a break after schooling for experience and mainly travelling to different destinatons.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task, presenting an opinion and discussing both the benefits and potential drawbacks of taking a gap year. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. The introduction outlines the writer's stance, and body paragraphs explore travel, work experience, and potential downsides such as losing interest in studying. Certain points, like the discussion on stress and anxiety, remain somewhat generalized and under-developed rather than being fully extended with specific support. While the main position is clear throughout the essay, a greater depth of explanation for each argument would elevate the response to the next level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the writing into an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used to separate contrasting ideas, such as the advantages of a gap year versus the disadvantages. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty, with transitional phrases like 'In other case' and 'Altough' feeling abrupt. Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in pronoun usage like 'They can have a idea' where the antecedent is slightly ambiguous. While the flow of ideas is generally understandable, improving the logical transitions between sentences and paragraphs would create a smoother progression throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the writer's main ideas about taking a gap year. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'contemporary world', 'international', and 'destinations', but these are accompanied by noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and word form (e.g., 'benifits', 'aniety', 'experinece', 'latter'). Spelling mistakes and minor lexical inaccuracies occasionally distract the reader, though they do not completely impede communication. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to expand their vocabulary range, ensure greater precision in word choice, and eliminate spelling errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures such as conditional and participial clauses (e.g., 'In travelling, for an example, if a person travel for few months domestic or internationally can explore new culture...'). However, attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty, leading to issues with subject-verb agreement, missing articles, and incorrect prepositions. There are noticeable errors in grammar and punctuation, such as 'individual have many confusions' and 'student get around three to fours months', which require some effort from the reader to parse. A better control over grammatical structures and a reduction in frequent errors are needed to progress further.

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