Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-27

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people say History is one of the most important school subjects. Other people think that in today’s world subjects like Science and technology are more important than History.

Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant example form your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

History is an important course that should be included in the curriculum along with science and technology. As the world is progressing at very high pace along with the technological advancements, so children should learn about the technology, it's benefits and disadvantages.

From my perspective, indeed history is one of the most important school subjects. If you're teaching a child about something you must teach it's history first. Without knowing when was the certain technology invented, who invented it, where was it first used and how people came to know about it, why would a child take interest in it ? To develop a keen interest in child about a certain topic you must teach its history first. Children should know about how humans evolved from animals, how they used to survive on this planet when basic necessities were thought to be luxuries. Moreover if you're teaching about a country then you should teach him about its history first rather than straight forwardly coming to other aspects.

Similarly, science and technology are also equally important. Children should be taught how science has made progress over the years, what are the contributions of science in technology and how science influences the way people perceive things. In today's world children must learn how to deal with technology, how to use certain tool and how to utilize it for the benefit of the society.

Therefore, if history tells you what happened in the future then science and technology shapes your mindset and make you capable of doing something better for present and future generations.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both views and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument that history is necessary to understand technology is a good starting point, but it is not fully extended with concrete examples. The discussion on science and technology is also quite general, focusing on the need to learn these subjects rather than explaining why they might be considered 'more important' in today's world. To reach a higher band, you should provide more specific examples or deeper analysis of the societal impacts of these subjects to support your claims more robustly.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. There is a progression of ideas from the introduction to the body paragraphs and the conclusion. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive. For example, the phrase 'first' is used multiple times in the second paragraph, and transitions between sentences could be more varied. While the overall structure is coherent, the links between sentences and paragraphs could be more sophisticated to improve the flow of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You rely on common words like 'important', 'teach', and 'learn' throughout the essay. There are also some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'straight forwardly coming to other aspects' and 'if history tells you what happened in the future' (which is logically confusing). To improve, try to incorporate more topic-specific vocabulary related to education and societal development, and focus on using collocations more accurately to express your ideas with greater nuance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'it's benefits' (should be 'its'), 'in child' (should be 'in a child'), and 'how humans evolved from animals' (which is a bit informal). Additionally, there are punctuation errors, such as missing commas in complex sentences. While these errors do not significantly impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles would be beneficial.

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

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