Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-11-02

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)

Alot of young people choose to tend a year out completing school and before joining the university in order to get work experience or to travel. these some experiences of non-academic life is benefical when they come back to education. In my opinion gap is important before start the new step in your education life.

Regarding the benfits of gap before starting the university life. when you complete the school some student are mentally disturbed they need some rest some space to relax the mind. some student move to learn new things like technology , travelling, spend time with their family for example when we complete our school one of my friend has decided to join the computer academy to learn the new technologies and he also offered me but I declined me and my some friends has decided to travel other cities and explore the new cultures. we have travel the different cities and learn many leasons like how to survive life in different hard areas.

After we comeback to our city and join the university. In this time one of that my friend who join the academy for learn the computer course also finished his course. he join the same university who join us. I couldn't belive he has more knowledge and more confidence in whole class. At that time I relize his dissicion is good and help in difficult stages.

In my side,I fully agreed to select the gap before starting the university. all student have different preference. some like to studing and some like to travelling. Break is important for relax the mind.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You give a clear position: you “fully agreed” that a gap year is beneficial, and you address both work-related learning and travel. The examples about your friend taking a computer course and your own group visiting other cities are relevant, and the friend’s increased knowledge and confidence help explain your view. However, the discussion is uneven: the benefits of rest and travel are mentioned briefly, while the link between these experiences and improved university performance is not fully explained. The essay would be stronger if you developed how skills such as independence, confidence, or practical knowledge help students study more effectively, and briefly acknowledged that a gap year may not benefit everyone.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has an overall structure, moving from an introduction to benefits, a personal example, and a concluding opinion. This gives the reader a generally coherent route through your ideas. Some connections, however, are mechanical or unclear. For example, “Regarding the benefits…” begins a fragment rather than a complete paragraph-opening sentence, and “In this time” does not clearly signal the relationship between the friend’s course and his later university performance. References such as “one of that my friend” also make it harder to follow who is being discussed. Use clearer topic sentences and linking phrases that show cause and effect, and check that pronouns and references point unambiguously to the people or ideas you mean.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use a basic range of vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “work experience,” “non-academic life,” “confidence,” and “explore the new cultures.” These choices help communicate your main examples. However, the range is limited and several spelling, word-form, and collocation errors make the writing less natural, such as “benefical,” “leasons,” “relize,” and “select the gap.” Some phrases are also imprecise, including “hard areas” and “new step in your education life.” Aim to learn common academic collocations and check spelling and word forms carefully. More precise language for skills gained during a gap year—such as independence, adaptability, or practical experience—would help you explain your ideas more effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentence forms, including a sentence that gives an example and explains what your friend did. The main ideas are usually understandable, but errors in sentence construction and control occur across the response. For instance, “these some experiences … is beneficial” has problems with sentence structure and subject–verb agreement, while “he join the same university who join us” does not form a clear grammatical relationship. Verb forms and tense are also inconsistent in “we have travel” and “he has more knowledge.” Capitalisation and punctuation, especially at sentence beginnings and around commas, need attention. Practise building accurate sentences with past-tense verbs and clear subject–verb patterns before adding more complex clauses.

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

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