Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-30

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)

The study gives us contrasting views of different people on whether professionals, like doctors and engineers, should be required to work in the country where they did their training or they should be free to work in another country if they wish.

If we weigh down all the pros and cons of both the possibilities, we can conclude a stance that benefits both the professionals and their relevent stakeholders. When these professionals start their training after graduation, they gain extensive knowledge and experience. Their trainings cover all the different areas of expertise which provides them with broad understanding of their field. Meeting new patients everyday, to treating people of different backgrounds to working on different sites and companies, the more they get exposed to the variety of experiences, the more they learn and excel in their fields.

For example, when a doctor gets training overseas, and gets his specialization in treating diabetes, he needs to practice and work in the place that has a large population of Diabetic people and suffer from different complications related to the disease. If he doesn't get this oppertunity, his knowledge and experience is not beneficial to the industry and people in general.

So the stance that they should not be allowed to work in other places is not feasable in my opinions. Although there are some drawbacks to this practice as well. Most of the educational institutes work and produce the professionals that are in demand in their area, so when they leave for good, either for their professional growth or better oppertunitis that caters their interest, they do not get a chance to fullfil their needs.

But keeping them confined is also not a solution to this problem. So, in my opinion, everyone should be allowed to work in their area or country of interest.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the task by discussing the views on whether professionals should work in their training country versus moving abroad, and clearly states the writer's opinion. The position is maintained throughout the essay. However, the ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed, particularly in the second half where the discussion on drawbacks and educational institutes becomes slightly convoluted. For instance, the point regarding institutes producing professionals in demand is introduced but not fully explained. While the prompt is addressed, a higher band requires deeper extension and more robust supporting arguments. Therefore, the performance aligns best with the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. However, the paragraphing is somewhat problematic; the main body is condensed into overly long blocks of text that cover multiple distinct points, such as the benefits of training, a specific example, and the writer's opinion. Cohesive devices are used, but referencing is sometimes unclear, such as the transition into the fourth paragraph where the pronoun use and logical flow feel a bit abrupt. Paragraphing is not used sufficiently and appropriately to structure the argument, which pulls this criterion down to a Band 6.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'extensive knowledge', 'specialization', and 'feasable'. However, there are several noticeable spelling and word choice errors, including 'relevent' instead of relevant, 'trainings' used as a countable noun, 'oppertunity' and 'oppertunitis' instead of opportunity/opportunities, and 'fullfil' instead of fulfill. These errors do not impede communication, but they prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. The vocabulary is generally functional rather than flexible, fitting comfortably into the Band 6 descriptor range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing conditional structures and relative clauses. There are, however, several grammatical errors throughout the text. For example, the sentence 'when a doctor gets training overseas, and gets his specialization... he needs to practice and work in the place that has a large population of Diabetic people and suffer from different complications' contains tense and agreement inconsistencies. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while errors exist, they rarely impede overall communication. This performance reflects a solid Band 6 level for grammatical range and accuracy.

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

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