Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-02

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)

in recent days, many countries individuals percentage pursuing their education after completing their schools has been climbed and the courses taught at colleges or universities has also been increased. in my opinion, its a positive form of development becasue a country filled with highly educated inhabitants will result in strong economy and overall development of country. i also believe that instuitions should focus on quality education rather then increasing courses.

on the one hand, in recent years to earn livelihood now jobs require degree whcih can only be obtained after completing school and college. furthermore, developed and under-developed countries have gained awareness about educating their people. attaining high level of education develop certain skills in individuals like accountability, decison making, and dealing with pressure etc. as a result, such factors are encouraging people to pursue education after finishing their school. for instance, in pakistan, percentage of people getting higher education at colleges and universities have been increased due to the requirement of degrees at high paying jobs. moreover people want to settle in well developed countries so they seek higher education to meet their respective country requirements.

on the other hand, colleges and universities are also increasing their degree programs for the sake of money. whereas they should focus on quality over quantity. the instuiotuin should add more details in their existing subjects rather then increasing courses. for instance, in my university, only 48 degree programs exist in 2019 at the time of admission but in 2026 there are 72 degree programs. with the incraesing programs, university has also lost its ranking in top 5 private universitiesof pakistan. as a result, quantity over quality taken down the university ranking for the sake of money.

in conclusion, getting higher education after school is a positive thing which results in development of their country but increasing courses is not a good thing

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by taking a clear position on the positive development of increased higher education while also discussing the caveat of proliferating courses. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. While the economic benefits and institutional expansion are mentioned, certain arguments remain somewhat general and lack deeper elaboration. For instance, the discussion regarding skills like accountability and decision-making is introduced but not thoroughly explored with robust examples. Similarly, the point about wanting to settle abroad is raised briefly without strong supporting details. The overall stance is maintained throughout the essay, but extending and fully developing all ideas would be required to push this response further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear organisational structure divided into an introduction, body paragraphs addressing different aspects of the prompt, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised to separate the main points effectively. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty, with basic connective devices like 'on the one hand' and 'on the other hand' driving the structure rather than more fluid transitions. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as pronoun usage in sentences like 'university has also lost its ranking... as a result, quantity over quality taken down the university ranking'. Logical progression is present, but smoother integration of ideas between sentences would enhance the overall flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'accountability', 'proliferating' (implied by context), and 'institution'. However, there are noticeable limitations and inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and spelling throughout the response. Examples include 'has been climbed' instead of 'has climbed', 'instuitions', 'becasue', 'whcih', 'decison', 'instuiotuin', 'incraesing', and 'taken down' instead of 'brought down' or 'lowered'. While these lexical errors and spelling mistakes do not heavily impede communication, they restrict the lexical score by demonstrating inconsistent control over less common vocabulary and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use various structures such as relative clauses and conditional-like arguments. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, particularly concerning subject-verb agreement, verb tenses, and article usage. Examples of grammatical lapses include 'the courses taught at colleges or universities has also been increased' (plural subject with singular verb), 'its a positive form' (missing apostrophe), 'percentage of people getting higher education... have been increased', and lowercase beginnings for sentences. These errors occur regularly alongside some error-free sentences, reflecting a developing control of sentence structures.

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