Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-10

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries these days, the number of people continuing their education after school has increased, and the range of courses available at universities and colleges has also increased.

Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

You should use your own ideas, knowledge and experience and support your arguments with examples and relevant experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Education has become significantly important these days. from the past few decades, completing and gaining a 3-4 year degree has become a trend that most people follows. diverse courses are now available in many universities. Certainly, both the viewpoints will be discussed in this essay.

The positives of getting higher education are that it has become mandatory to get a degree if you want a job which might be one of the major positive thing that increased people to attend colleges. By getting higher qualification, reputable jobs were assigned to those scholars and that made the education worth. People could easily take whatever courses they like and advance in particular field. People of same college can start their own businesses too as they all work together and have same interest. You can get a lot of social networks that can help you in future. Schools were all about theories but colleges focuses on practical life and significant skills that needs to be developed before entering the economical world. colleges also provides internships which can ultimately lead you to get better high paying jobs in future.

There are minor drawbacks such as having to pay high amount of fee to attend certain professional courses. This implies huge monetary burden on the family who earns hand-to-mouth. also few degrees such as medical needs a lot of practical skills before entering market which takes a lot of years to gain. Also these days and in future the college degrees might be considered obsolete as skills and training matter more than just a theoretical degree.

To sum up, colleges and universities are beneficial if gained proper skills and techniques along with theory.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the increase in higher education and evaluating whether this is a positive or negative development. However, the position is not consistently clear throughout the essay. While you mention both viewpoints, the introduction states 'both the viewpoints will be discussed,' which is a neutral approach rather than taking a firm stance as required by the prompt 'Do you think...'. The ideas are relevant, such as job market requirements and financial burdens, but some points, like the mention of social networking, are under-developed. To improve, ensure you state your opinion clearly in the introduction and maintain that position throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for positives and negatives, and a conclusion. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate. For example, the transition 'from the past few decades' is unnatural, and the connection between sentences within paragraphs could be smoother. Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as in the phrase 'that made the education worth,' where the antecedent is vague. Improving the variety and precision of linking words will help the flow of your arguments significantly.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'mandatory,' 'reputable,' 'internships,' and 'obsolete.' However, there are several instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'increased people to attend' (should be 'encouraged people'), 'economical world' (should be 'economic world'), and 'gained proper skills' (should be 'gaining'). While these errors do not impede communication, they limit the score. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('most people follows,' 'colleges focuses,' 'colleges also provides'), article usage ('the medical,' 'the economical world'), and punctuation/capitalization errors at the start of sentences. While the meaning is generally clear, these errors are frequent enough to be noticeable. To improve, pay closer attention to subject-verb agreement and ensure that complex sentences are constructed accurately without missing articles or incorrect verb forms.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.