Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-18

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)

There is an ongoing debate that living in a foreign country can induce both social and practical complications when people have to communicate in a foreign language. I largely agree with this thought becuase accent distinguishs people and can create hurdles in the official documentation processes.

People who speak foriegn languages have different accent than the natives, is my primary reason behind the agreement. Students going to the school in abroad may be judged on the basis of the accent, resulting in getting a lable or maybe bullying. It will be difficult for migrants to make friends in overseas countries becuase of the language barrier, consequently may face social isolation. At schools, for instance, kids get some sort of group assignments where the local children can discuss easily among them, while the foriegn students may face issue in communication. Hence, speaking a language of other country may affect social life of the individuals.

Furthermore, the another reason of my agreement is the challanges while filling the official forms. Visa and Immigration forms, to be more precise, usually written in foriegn languages, people may miss the important points which may put them in a big toruble. Besides, while filling a consent form at hospitals, some points may be misunderstood because of the language differences. Consequently, it can be difficult for an outsider to live in an abroad and speak their language. To illustrate it, an international student may face serious problems while completing a scholarship application, missing any point because of not understanding the language may weaken his application.

In conclusion, I firmly agree with the notion that families living in a foreign language speaking country may face serious social and real life problems because of their way of speaking and understanding while reading official forms.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position on the given statement regarding the social and practical problems caused by living in a foreign language environment. The main ideas, such as social isolation due to accents and practical difficulties in filling out official documents, are introduced and supported with relevant examples, including school experiences and immigration or scholarship forms. However, some arguments tend to over-generalise and remain slightly under-developed, falling short of the deeper analytical depth required for a Band 7.0. For instance, the discussion on accents and bullying at school is introduced but lacks further extension. Overall, the response fulfills the requirements of a Band 6.0 as it addresses the prompt appropriately with relevant, albeit somewhat limited, supporting details.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organised into a logical structure with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs exploring distinct reasons, and a concluding paragraph. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Cohesive devices are employed to connect points, such as 'Furthermore', 'Besides', and 'To illustrate it', but their application is at times mechanical or slightly repetitive, typical of a Band 6.0 profile. Referencing is generally clear, as seen with 'This task requires...' though some transitional sentences feel a bit abrupt. Progression is evident overall, but minor issues with cohesive management prevent the text from reaching a Band 7 score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully incorporating topic-related terminology such as 'official documentation', 'social isolation', 'immigration forms', and 'consent form'. However, there are noticeable spelling errors ('becuase', 'distinguishs', 'foriegn', 'lable', 'challanges', 'toruble') and some awkward word choices or collocations, such as 'going to the school in abroad' and 'speak their language' when referring to the host country. While these lexical errors do not seriously impede communication, their frequency keeps the vocabulary profile at a Band 6.0 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures such as 'People who speak foriegn languages have different accent than the natives, is my primary reason behind the agreement.' However, the text contains a significant number of grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, including subject-verb agreement issues and misuse of articles or prepositions ('living in an abroad', 'children can discuss easily among them'). While the meaning remains mostly clear and communication is rarely completely impeded, the high frequency of structural slips prevents the writing from achieving a Band 6.5 or 7.0.

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

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