Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Living in a country where you have to speak a foreign language can cause serious social problems, as well as practical problems.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

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

Student answer (Band 5.0)

In recent years, there has been a boom in moving to foreign countries, with many people finding it difficult to speak the local language and facing many social and practical issues. Anyhow, I'll go with a partial approach: to a certain extent, it causes problems, but alternatively, it ends in getting engaged with their culture and values.

First of all, I would say that it might be quite difficult for some people to speak their local language, which may result in a communication gap, making them unable to fit in. Yesterday, I read an article about "people in foreign" that showed 60% of people face difficulty communicating and with many other social things, especially immigrants, because they don't have access to the local language. In contrast, the student union finds it quite interesting and gets engaged easily, as they do know the local language, even though not to an expert level; they know a little, and they become masters gradually.

Secondly, when it comes to problems

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You take a partial position, saying that language barriers cause problems but can also help people engage with another culture. This is relevant to the question, and you begin to support the social-problem side with the point about communication and fitting in. However, the response addresses the task only partially: practical problems are not explained, and the positive point about cultural engagement is not clearly connected to whether serious problems occur. The example about an article and its 60% figure is vague and not developed, while the second body paragraph stops after “when it comes to problems.” The response is also 84 words below the required minimum, leaving the argument and examples substantially incomplete. Develop both social and practical effects, explain your position consistently, and support each main point with a specific example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is an attempt to organise the response with an introduction and signposts such as “First of all,” “In contrast,” and “Secondly.” These help indicate that you intend to present more than one point. However, the overall progression is incomplete: the second body paragraph ends mid-thought, and there is no conclusion to restate your position. The contrast between people who struggle to communicate and the student union is not sufficiently explained, so the relationship between these ideas is unclear. Some linking phrases also feel mechanical rather than showing a precise logical connection. To improve, plan a complete sequence of paragraphs—position, developed reasons, examples, and conclusion—and use referencing and transitions that make the connection between each idea explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic-related vocabulary, including “communication gap,” “fit in,” “local language,” and “engaged with their culture and values.” These phrases make the general subject clear, and there are attempts at more expressive wording, such as “masters gradually.” However, several choices are imprecise or unnatural, including “a boom in moving to foreign countries,” “partial approach,” and “people in foreign.” “Student union” is also unclear in this context, and “social things” is too vague to communicate a specific problem. The range is sufficient to express basic ideas, but accuracy and natural collocation are inconsistent. Choose precise terms for the people and difficulties you mean, and avoid informal or unclear expressions in an academic essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms. For example, the opening sentence uses a participle phrase (“with many people finding it difficult…”), and the next sentence includes a contrast between problems and cultural engagement. Most of the intended meaning can be understood, but some sentence construction and punctuation need more control. The sentence beginning “Yesterday, I read an article” combines several points, making the relationship between the statistic and the social difficulties difficult to follow. The final paragraph begins with “Secondly, when it comes to problems” but is incomplete, so it does not form a complete sentence. Practise writing complete sentences with one clear main idea, and check that each paragraph ends with a finished thought. More varied structures will be effective when they remain clear and complete.

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.