Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-03

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)

Residing in a country where we have to talk in another country's language may affect our daily livies and professional livies also. I totally agree with this statement because it creates number problems like isolation, mental problems and it also affetcs our professional life.

To begin with, nowadays, number of people try to acquire necessary language skills of another country. But on the other hand few individuals relay completely on their native language. When they move to another country then they face significant problems because of language barrier in some aspects. They will not be able to socialize themselves because socializing requires language a fundamental thing, except this skill socializing is futile. Due to this a person may face mental problems like anxiety and depression. All these are caused because of the isolation and these problems will impact person's life substantially. For instance, having no friend and spending leisure time alone can trigger suicidal thoughts.

Another reason that lacking this skill also affects persons professional life. International individuals are required to have some proven essential language skills so they can be hired by someone. So individuals may face severe finincidal crisis which also fosters mental problems. Moreover, even if a person gets hired by someone then they will also face obstacles in getting promotions. For instance, a person with not adequate command on a language works in a large corporation where individuals get promotions and incentives on their progress. They will still on the rank always until they learn a new language.

To conclude, indeed speaking only a foreign language always affects a person's life in every aspect. Everyone should learn and pass the necessary certifications before moving to their desired country.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both social and practical problems, such as isolation and professional challenges, and presents a clear position throughout. The ideas are generally relevant, moving from mental health issues to financial struggles. However, some aspects are under-developed rather than fully extended; for instance, the point regarding promotions is introduced with an example that remains slightly vague and repetitive rather than exploring deeper corporate dynamics. To reach the next level, the writer needs to provide more fully elaborated arguments and support every main idea with deeper analysis rather than brief generalisations, ensuring all parts of the prompt receive equal and extensive coverage.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, and the body paragraphs are separated into distinct themes of social-mental issues and professional challenges. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical, relying on repetitive transitional phrases like 'To begin with' and 'Another reason that' without sufficiently smooth transitions between sentences. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as the ambiguous pronoun use in 'They will still on the rank always'. To improve, the writer should use a wider variety of cohesive devices more naturally and ensure that referencing words clearly point to their intended antecedents, creating a seamless progression of ideas throughout the entire text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying the basic meaning. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items, such as 'isolation', 'suicidal thoughts', and 'incentives', but these attempts are frequently accompanied by inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and spelling, such as 'livies' instead of lives, 'affetcs', 'relay' instead of rely, and 'finincidal'. These noticeable errors occasionally distract the reader, though they do not completely impede communication. To achieve a higher band, the writer must expand their lexical repertoire and ensure greater accuracy in spelling, word forms, and collocations, moving beyond basic or erroneous word choices to demonstrate more precise control over language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting complex structures such as 'When they move to another country then they face...' and 'even if a person gets hired by someone then they will also face...'. However, there is a frequent presence of grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, including missing prepositions, article errors, and incorrect verb patterns, as seen in 'lacking this skill also affects persons professional life' and 'They will still on the rank always'. These errors require some effort to parse and place the grammatical control within the lower band category. To progress, the writer needs to increase the proportion of error-free sentences and refine their control over complex sentence patterns, articles, and verb tenses.

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

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