Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-13

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)

Taking a year out after completing high school to get work experience or to travel around before joining university. Individuals gain extra experience from which they will benefit when they continue their studies. I partially disagree with these statements as I believe experience gained at this level does not have much impact on their life but adventures at this level may have meaningful impact.

Students around the world do jobs before applying for higher studies more likely not to have good impact rather than gaining any meaninful outcomes. This is due to lack of opportunities at that level. For example, majority of the people with no experience get mostly odd jobs like waiter, cleaners and car washers which have no real value to their future degrees they may apply to. In my openion this leads to their one crucial year wasted with no real impact.

While some individuals have adventure trips before joining their higher studies. This experience may have positive impact on the students I agree but in most cases young people have lack of resources to travel and have a meaningingful adventure as they depend on their parents. The experience impact on an individual directly depends on the places they may visit. As an example, the people who travel to their relatives may have a rather different experience than those who attend high level conferences around the world.

In conclusion, I believe that those who prefer to work before college may no have good impact as to those who travel around. This all depends on the type work they do and the places a person visits.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is identifiable: you partially disagree, arguing that ordinary work may offer little benefit while travel can be valuable. You address both work and travel, and the examples of service jobs and different kinds of trips are relevant. However, the response only partly develops the question of whether non-academic experience benefits young people when they return to education. The claim that service jobs have “no real value” is broad and would be stronger if you explained what skills they might or might not provide for university study. Likewise, the travel paragraph focuses mainly on unequal access and types of destinations, rather than showing how travel affects later learning. Develop these links and make your overall position more consistent and explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs on work and travel, and a conclusion. This helps the reader follow the two sides of your discussion. You also use signposts such as “For example,” “While,” and “In conclusion.” However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. The opening fragment, “Taking a year out … before joining university,” is not a complete sentence, and the transition “While some individuals have adventure trips” does not clearly connect the contrast with the previous paragraph. References such as “this experience” and “this all” are also broad. Use complete topic sentences, link each example directly to your claim, and make the conclusion restate your position rather than introduce a slightly different comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “work experience,” “higher studies,” “opportunities,” “resources,” and “conferences,” so the main ideas are generally understandable. There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “odd jobs” and “meaningful impact.” However, noticeable spelling errors—“meaninful,” “openion,” and “meaningingful”—and awkward or imprecise collocations reduce control. Phrases such as “the experience impact on an individual” and “have good impact” are not natural in this context, while “high level conferences” is vague. Aim for accurate, natural combinations and check spelling carefully. More precise vocabulary for transferable skills, such as communication or independence, would also help explain the benefits being discussed.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex forms, including the reason clause “This is due to lack of opportunities” and the comparison “different experience than those who attend…”. However, several sentence-structure and agreement problems make parts of the response less clear. The opening is a fragment, and “Students around the world do jobs … more likely not to have good impact” lacks a clear grammatical structure. In “those who prefer to work … may no have good impact,” the verb phrase is also faulty. Articles and plural forms need attention, as in “the majority of the people” and “a rather different experience.” Practise building complete sentences around a clear subject and verb, then check agreement, articles, and punctuation. Greater accuracy would make your ideas easier to follow.

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

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