Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-08

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)

There are a majority set of young people that take a gap year after finishing school, and before joining university like gaining experience in work or just merely to travel. They believe that this experience benefits them in their life. I agree with the above statement.

Proponents statement has a strong backing as it can be seen that young minds follow a traditional culture that is to follow the trend or listen to their elders. Such individuals are not mature enough to make a decision thereby they should take a year to explore after school ends. It can be seen that children who take a gap year truly understand what work culture befits them and they easily excel in that environment. They become more confident in expressing themselves out and can deal with most of the situations professionally. An instance can be seen that through digitalization of social media people have grown mature enough by exploring themselves.

On the other hand, individuals that do not take a gap year and follow the old methods, mostly question themselves if the decision they made is not in the best interest of them and they start blaming other people. They often feel anxious and pressurized when dealing with situations which leads them to making a wrong decision. In some cases, we see that this class of people often drop-out from their degree as they do not find it well enough for them and potentially waste their golden years. In worse cases, it often leads to situation like suicide.

At the end, I think that one should take the experience of what lies outside academics and not indulge themselves in the rat race to make a right decision for the life that lies ahead of them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you agree that a year outside formal education can benefit young people, and you give relevant points about confidence, work experience and making better choices. The discussion of people who do not take a gap year also supports your stance. However, some ideas are asserted rather than explained. For example, the claim that young people who skip a gap year may drop out or even face suicide is serious but is not supported with a clear explanation or example, and it risks overgeneralising. The link between social-media exploration and maturity is also unclear. To strengthen the response, explain more directly how travel or employment develops skills that help students when they return to university, and support each main point with a specific example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting contrasting situations, and a concluding opinion. This makes the main direction easy to follow. You also use signposts such as “On the other hand” and “At the end” to indicate shifts. However, some connections between ideas are mechanical or unclear. The first body paragraph moves from following elders to workplace suitability, then to social media, without showing how these points build on one another. In the second paragraph, the progression from anxiety to dropping out and suicide is abrupt. Use clearer topic sentences and develop one central idea per paragraph, with linking phrases that explain cause and effect rather than simply announcing a contrast.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic-related vocabulary, including “gap year,” “work culture,” “confident,” “professionally,” and “anxious and pressurized.” These choices help communicate your main ideas, and some less common expressions show an attempt to discuss the issue beyond basic terms. However, several word choices and collocations are unnatural or imprecise, such as “a majority set of young people,” “Proponents statement,” and “what work culture befits them.” “Digitalization of social media” is also unclear in this context. These phrases sometimes make the reader pause to interpret your meaning. Aim for more natural combinations and precise wording, for example, “many young people,” “supporters of this view,” and “discover which career suits them.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses with “as,” “thereby,” and “which,” and your overall meaning is generally understandable. Some sentences are controlled, such as “They often feel anxious and pressurized when dealing with situations,” but there are recurring errors in sentence construction and agreement. For example, “There are a majority set of young people that take…” has an incorrect structure, while “Proponents statement has…” is missing a possessive form. In “they start blaming other people,” the reference to “individuals” shifts inconsistently, and “leads them to making” is an awkward grammatical pattern. Review subject–verb agreement, articles and possessives, and practise building complex sentences with clear clause relationships. More accurate control would make your argument easier to follow.

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

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