Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-16
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 5.5)
There is a common belief that professionals like doctors and engineers should not be free to work in different country than the one where thay have completed their traning. Howevere, there are some individuals who believes that each professional should be given the freedom to work in any country. In this essay, both sides will be discussed, before giving my personal opinion.
On the one hand, allowing the professionals to work in any country can help with the global skill growth. Enabling permission to work aboard, exposes them to advance technology which they might bring back to their country. For example, a doctor who works in germany help him to bring the advance medical technology to his country, benefiting the country's people. Another reason is the economic rewards such as higher salaries and better research tools. There are many countries who can provide good resources to the professional such as scientists, doctors or researchers than their own country can provide. Moreover, adult has the right to choose the place where they live, build career and seek a better like.
On the other hand, by forcing the workers to stay in their country, they can help to fullfill the shortage.
In conclusion, although there are some negative impacts on the country, I frimly believe that professional should have the freedom to work abroad because forced labor policies restrict basic human rights. Instead of bans, nations should improve local wages and working conditions to encourage the talented individuals to stay voluntarily
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the task by discussing the views on whether professionals should stay or leave, and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. While the first body paragraph presents developed arguments regarding global skill growth and economic rewards, the second body paragraph is extremely brief and under-developed, reading more like an unfinished thought: 'On the other hand, by forcing the workers to stay in their country, they can help to fullfill the shortage.' Furthermore, the length requirement of 250 words is not met as the text contains 249 words, resulting in a minor penalty under task achievement. Consequently, these limitations place the task achievement score at a band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a logical overall organisation with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a clear conclusion. Basic cohesive devices are used to signal shifts between ideas, such as 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand'. However, paragraphing is poorly managed due to the extreme brevity of the second body paragraph, which disrupts the structural balance of the essay. Referencing is occasionally loose, and some transitions feel mechanical. Despite these structural flaws, the progression of the essay is discernible and does not completely break down, supporting a band 6.0 for coherence and cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'global skill growth', 'research tools', and 'forced labor policies'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations throughout the text, including 'different country than' instead of 'other than', 'traning' (spelling), 'thay' (spelling), 'Enabling permission to work aboard' (incorrect collocation for 'abroad'), and 'seek a better like' (likely meaning 'life'). While these errors do not severely impede communication, they reflect instability in word choice and spelling, making a band 5.5 the most appropriate score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('individuals who believes'), article omissions ('a doctor who works in germany help him'), and spelling or typo slips ('frimly'). Additionally, simple sentences contain errors ('adult has the right'). While complex structures are attempted, they are frequently flawed. These issues constrain the grammar score to a band 5.5, as the errors occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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