Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-23

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 my opinion, changing a country is a unique experience, where you get to discover new environment, cultures, landscapes and most important, meet new people.

As exciting as it may sound, living in a foreign country may be challenge in differents ways, the main difficulty is the language, because we need in order to communicate.

communication is mandatory, for everyday life but also to be able to socialise and to work.

If someone can't speak the local language of the country where he lives, that would limitate his chances to talk to and to understand locals, make new friends, or attend events, by doing so, this person would feel excluded from conversations and make him feel disappointed and lonely.

Also, not speaking properly a language could be a problem at work, since this person can't communicate effectively and clearly about his tasks, challenges and ideas during meetings, he won't truly show his value or contribution to the team. he would also miss out on getting along or discussing multiple topics with his coworkers.

to summarize, I think that living in a different country is a previlege to everyone, however. we need to be fully prepared for the change that comes with it. such as the language, being capable to speak that language, in that way we won't be afraid to go towards people, and fully enjoy our new life, which may completely change our perception of this experience.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both social and practical problems related to living in a foreign language environment, thus covering all parts of the task. A clear position is maintained throughout the essay. However, the ideas lack full extension and the under-length nature of the response—falling short at 238 words compared to the 250-word minimum—directly impacts the depth of task fulfilment. While the social isolation and work-related challenges are mentioned, they are somewhat repetitive and under-developed due to the brevity. For instance, the discussion on work issues remains superficial. As a direct result of failing the minimum word count requirement and the resulting under-development of ideas, the response aligns best with Band 5.5 for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay demonstrates a basic overall arrangement of ideas, moving from a general introduction to social problems, practical work problems, and a brief conclusion. However, paragraphing is poorly handled, with large chunks of text and run-on sentences that impede smooth progression. For example, the sentence starting with 'If someone can't speak...' is overly long and combines multiple distinct clauses improperly. Furthermore, cohesive devices are often weak or misused, such as the abrupt transition 'Also, not speaking properly...' and the lowercase start to the final conclusion paragraph ('to summarize...'). Referencing is sometimes unclear, and punctuation errors disrupt the flow. These mechanical and faulty cohesive features place the response firmly at Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary for the task, with terms like 'socialise', 'excluded', and 'privilege' showing some appropriate word choice. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word formations throughout the text. Examples include 'changing a country' instead of 'moving to another country', 'limitates' instead of 'limits', and 'previlege' instead of 'privilege'. Additionally, repetition of common words such as 'language', 'country', and 'person' limits the lexical range. While the intended meaning usually comes across, the frequency of word-choice and spelling errors causes some difficulty for the reader, matching the descriptors for Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The text contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but attempts at complex structures are frequently faulty and punctuated incorrectly, often resulting in comma splices or run-on sentences. For instance, the sentence 'As exciting as it may sound, living in a foreign country may be challenge in differents ways, the main difficulty is the language...' links independent clauses incorrectly with commas. Other grammatical inaccuracies include missing prepositions, subject-verb agreement issues ('make him feel'), and incorrect adjectives ('be challenge'). Because attempts at complex sentences are consistently flawed and frequent errors cause difficulty for the reader, the grammar performance corresponds to Band 5.0.

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