Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-19
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)
some individuals argue that health professionals such as doctors and engineers should serve in their own country instead of choosing any other country. In my perspective, doctors and engineers should have their own choice to work for their country or another country.
To begin with, doctors and engineers have faced a lot of challenges and obstacles in their profession. Furthermore, they choose these professions for better opportunities and to improve their living lifestyles. Every students dreamt to become a successful physician or engineer from childhood. They work hard and put great efforts to achieve it. For instance. In Pakistan, low economy, lack of education and lack of resources badly effect the future of young generation. There are lack of opportunities for young individuals to continue their education. If a one out of 100 students got the opportunity to become a doctor or a engineer, it will be a big deal for him. However, A doctor faced challenges in their profession due to lack of employment in their own country. Consequently, it destroyed the hard work and efforts of physicians. They do not get experience in their field as a result they discourage themselves. They lose confidence and self esteem. It badly effect their mental health causes anxiety and depression.
On the other hand, doctors and engineers should go to another country for better salaries and lifestyles. In this way, they can train themselves according to the international standards. They can work with great motivation and aims.
To conclude with, doctors and engineers should go to another country for better opportunities and lifestyles. This can improve their working capacity and training. However, working in own country can be stressful due to low employment rate and economy.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both views on whether professionals should work in their home country or abroad, and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion regarding Pakistan focuses heavily on general economic struggles rather than deeply exploring the core arguments surrounding the obligation of professionals to give back to society versus individual freedom of choice. While a position is stated throughout, the reasoning tends to rely on emotional points rather than fully extended analytical arguments. This places the response comfortably at Band 6.0, as it covers all parts of the task with relevant ideas, but some points remain under-developed.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear stance established in the introduction and reinforced in the conclusion. Paragraphing is attempted, though the main body body paragraphs are quite dense and could be broken down more effectively for clarity. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'On the other hand' are used, but some transitions feel mechanical or repetitive, particularly the frequent repetition of phrases like 'doctors and engineers'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, for example in sentences like 'If a one out of 100 students got the opportunity...', which slightly disrupts the flow. These features align with the Band 6 descriptor, where cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'professionals', 'opportunities', 'motivation', and 'international standards'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors throughout the text, such as 'living lifestyles' instead of 'standard of living', 'low economy' instead of 'weak economy', and 'badly effect' instead of 'badly affect'. Furthermore, lexical repetition is an issue, with the phrase 'doctors and engineers' repeated excessively. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they prevent the essay from reaching a higher band, making Band 5.5 the most appropriate score for lexical resource.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like conditional clauses ('If a one out of 100 students...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'Every students dreamt' (Every student dreamt), 'a one out of 100 students' (one out of 100 students), and confusion between nouns and verbs ('causes anxiety' following 'mental health'). Punctuation errors also occur, such as a stray full stop in 'For instance. In Pakistan...'. Because these errors occur frequently and occasionally cause minor difficulty for the reader, the writing corresponds to Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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