Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-10

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 5.5)

It is undeniable that moving to a foreign country where a foreign languages spoken is present a major challenge. i largely agree that this situation can lead to to both social and practical difficulties, although these problem can be overcome over time.

from a social perspective, language can cause a isolation of peoples because they cannot understand the language. moreover it they do not able to make friends because of language barrier. participate in a community events and cannot talk to neighbors. this may lead to a problems of loneliness and exclusion. for example if any student go abroad for higher education he face difficulties for a short time because of language. some families who immigrant to abroad with the family their children forget their native language and culture.

In terms of practical problems, the impact are even more serious. finding the employment becomes much more harder without the language as most jobs require communication with coworker and customer. different daily tasks such as visiting doctor, apartment and stores become more stressful for the individuals. In schools children start losing confidence due to language barrier. furthermore governments start language courses which will be more helpful for the people. after doing language course thy able to speak basic which help them to communicate with people and they understand the language easily . nowadays there are many apps and devices are available which help them to translate the language from one into another.

In conclusion, i agree that living in a foreign-language country can causes significant social and practical problems at first. i believe that it is not a permanent problem it can be overcome by working hard and practicing continously a language.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both social and practical problems associated with living in a foreign-language country. The position is clear throughout, and the ideas are relevant. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the example of a student facing difficulties is quite brief, and the discussion on government courses and technology, while relevant, feels slightly disconnected from the main argument about the severity of the problems. To reach a higher band, you should aim to expand your supporting points with more depth and specific, well-explained examples rather than listing several points in quick succession.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear introduction and conclusion. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. For example, the transition 'moreover it they do not able to' is grammatically broken and lacks proper linking. There are also issues with punctuation, such as missing capital letters at the start of sentences and inconsistent use of full stops. While the overall progression of ideas is discernible, the lack of sophisticated linking words and the frequent errors in referencing make the flow feel somewhat disjointed at times.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your meaning, but it lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. You rely on basic phrasing, such as 'major challenge' and 'serious problems', and there are several word-choice errors, such as 'immigrant to abroad' (should be 'immigrate') and 'speak basic' (should be 'speak the language at a basic level'). There is little evidence of less common lexical items or idiomatic expressions. To improve, focus on learning collocations and using more precise terminology related to the topic of migration and language acquisition.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the reader's flow. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('the impact are', 'governments start language courses which will be'), missing articles ('visiting doctor'), and incorrect verb forms ('they do not able to'). Punctuation is also a significant weakness, with many sentences lacking proper capitalization and sentence boundaries. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors prevents the writing from achieving a higher score. Focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage.

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.