Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-30

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)

A great innovation in many educational sectors has shown development in courses, where wide range of courses had been provided to choose from. This innovation has been noticed in many countries. Having to choose your degree in your desireble course is a great opportunity and motivation to follow your dreams.

Many university did not provide wide range of courses. Almost all university had science, commerce and arts courses but not many subjects in each individually. Only some common programs had wide range of subjects. But as individual one might not share the interest as the majority of the people in a country. So for that individual, getting an option to choose their desireble degree program is like an opportunity to persue their dreams. In a metric/intermediate system students are given 3 subjects to choose from which includes pre medical, computer science and pre engineering. Whereas, in cambridge system, especially in A levels students get wide range to variety to choose from. Therefore, it helps them into choosing the kind of program they want to get into since they have the knowledge beforehand.

On the other hand, it has minor negative aspects. For instance, when one is given too many options, confusion grows. Like for an indecisive person to choose one subject program and having to study it for rest of 3-4 years depending upon the duration of their program. It gets pressurizing for them to choose a degree program and pursue it and build a career on it.

It can be an advantage for students who are in right mind in terms of what they want to do further in higher studies but, not so great for people who are still figuring out.

In the end, it remains a great development for upcoming generation, who are pursueing higher education in uncommon degree programs.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear overall view that the expansion of courses is positive, while acknowledging that too much choice can make decisions difficult. The examples comparing the metric/intermediate system with A levels help explain why earlier exposure to more subjects may support students’ choices. However, the discussion focuses mainly on course variety and gives less attention to the increase in the number of people continuing education after school, which is also part of the prompt. Some points remain general: for example, the concern about indecisive students is stated but not developed with a specific consequence or example. Address both developments directly and extend each main reason with clearer explanation or evidence.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph supporting wider choice, a counterpoint, and a conclusion. Transitions such as “On the other hand” and “In the end” make the broad direction easy to follow. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes uneven, and some links between ideas are unclear. For instance, the move from the limited course choices at universities to the metric/intermediate and Cambridge systems needs a clearer explanation of how these examples support the argument about higher education. The final paragraph also repeats the contrast between students who know their goals and those who do not, rather than drawing the main points together. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each example explicitly to your position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “degree program,” “higher studies,” “wide range,” and “career,” and you attempt more specific expressions such as “indecisive person” and “uncommon degree programs.” However, the range is somewhat repetitive, especially around “choose,” “program,” and “course,” and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward. Examples include “great innovation” for this change, “wide range to variety,” and “in right mind.” Spelling errors such as “desireble,” “persue,” and “pursueing” also reduce accuracy. Build a broader set of natural academic phrases for discussing access, choice, and educational opportunities, and check spelling and collocations during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and longer sentences, including a conditional idea in “when one is given too many options, confusion grows” and a contrast between different education systems. Meaning is generally recoverable, but errors in sentence structure, agreement, articles, and verb forms occur across the response. For example, “Many university did not provide” needs plural agreement, while “Almost all university had” has the same issue; “who are pursueing” is also an incorrect verb form. Some sentences are incomplete or awkwardly joined, such as “But as individual one might not share the interest as the majority of the people in a country.” Practise accurate complex sentences and review agreement, articles, and clause construction.

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

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