Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-14

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people believe that professionals, such as doctors and engineers, should be required to work in the country where they did their training. Others believe they should be free to work in another country if they wish.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.0)

Many university students believe that studying additional subjects alongside their core curriculum enhances their career prospects. However, other argue that dedicating their time and efforts soley to compulsory subject is essential for academic success. This essay will discuss both perspectives.

On the one hand, enrolling in supplementary course can provide students with diverse career opportunities. One significant advantage of acquiring knowledge beyong the standrard syllabus is the ability to develop expertise in multiple fields. Consequently, students become versatile professionals who can transition between industries with ease. For instance, many electronics engineering students learn programming alongside their main coursework, allowing them to pursue roles in both hardware adn software industries. This broadens their employment prospects and makes them highly desirable to employers. Furthermore, possessing interdisciplinary skills increases their adaptability in a rapidly evolving job makret, ensuring long-term career growth.

On the other hand, focusing excessively on additional coursework may negatively impact academic performance. Many students who devote time to extra subjects struggle to maintain a strong grasp of their primary studies, which are essential for fulfilling degree requirement. Since supplementery course demand significant time adn effort, students often fail to dedicate sufficient attention to their core moduels, leading to subpar academic result. For example, students whose major in computer science may priortize learning coding in an attempt to secure IT- related jobs. However, this divided focus can result in lower grades in their success in their specialized field.

In conclusion, aquiring additional skills through extra subjects can enhance emplyability and provide a competitive edge in the job market. However, neglecting core subjects may lead to poor academic performance, which could hinder long-term career success. Therfore, students they excel in both their primary studies and supplymentary learning.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The student has unfortunately misread the prompt entirely. While the prompt asks about whether professionals like doctors and engineers should be required to work in their home country or be free to migrate, the student's essay discusses whether university students should study additional subjects alongside their core curriculum. Consequently, the candidate does not address the prompt's central theme of brain drain, mandatory national service, or professional freedom of movement. According to the task response descriptors, when a response fails to address the specific topic provided, it cannot score above a Band 4.0 for Task Achievement. The ideas presented are developed logically internally, but because they pertain to a completely different academic essay question, they remain irrelevant to the actual task set. A clear position is maintained regarding the misread topic, but unfortunately, the prompt requirements have been fundamentally missed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

Despite the severe off-topic nature of the content, the essay demonstrates clear organizational skills. The structure follows a standard four-paragraph format with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs presenting opposing views, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader through the text, such as "On the one hand," "On the other hand," and "In conclusion." Logical sequencing is maintained within paragraphs, and referencing is generally clear. However, due to the misinterpretation of the task, the overall progression suffers from addressing the wrong core question. Because Coherence and Cohesion can be marked independently of Task Achievement when a candidate misunderstands the prompt, the strong structural framework allows the essay to achieve a Band 6.0 in this category.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as "supplementary," "interdisciplinary," "versatile," and "employability." However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including "soley" instead of solely, "beyong" instead of beyond, "standrard" instead of standard, "adh" instead of and, "makret" instead of market, "moduels" instead of modules, and "supplymentary" instead of supplementary. While these errors do not completely impede communication and show a willingness to use a varied lexicon, the frequency of slips prevents the score from reaching higher bands. The lexical resource is sufficient to convey the student's intended points clearly, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptor where an adequate range is displayed despite some inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student utilizes a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar with complex structures such as conditional and participial clauses (e.g., "Many university students believe that studying additional subjects alongside their core curriculum enhances their career prospects"). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as "other argue" instead of others argue, "supplementery course" instead of supplementary courses, and the incomplete final sentence "Therfore, students they excel in both their primary studies and supplymentary learning," which lacks a main verb and contains a pronoun error. These errors indicate that while a variety of structures is attempted, grammatical control is inconsistent. Because communication is occasionally hindered by these slips, the response fits comfortably within the Band 5.0 range for grammatical range and accuracy.

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.