Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-16

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)

There is no denying the fact that subjects like science and technology are gaining popularity in schools, while some believe that these subjects are important than other, some says along with these future proof subjects history is just as important. This topic needs a proper scannity before forming an opinion.

Going with the first school of thoughts that science and technology are the most important subjects. There is no denying the fact that science plays a significant role in our society, as new inventions and experiments are conducted by scientists on daily basis to understand our nature and to make our life easy. Not only that with more students choosing science and technology for further studies new future paths open for them such as scientists, marine biologists or space astronauts which helps them understand how things works and how our universe must have been formed. Furthermore with upcoming advancements is AI(Artificial Intelligence) sector, it is now important to understand technology from a very young age to completely utilize it's potential.

While the other school of thoughts believes that history is just as important as any other subjects in school. As history not only tells us about past events, it

also keep reminding us about our past mistakes and how we should avoid that. Furthermore, in geological field, a good knowledge of history is a must requirements to understand a terrain so it's very requiring not only this, but during unknown expeditions history plays an important role in discovery the truth about our old civilizations.

In my opinion, both technology and science is important subject, but history is just as important as to achieve future we must first understand past.

In the end it can be concluded that all subjects are just as important as any other subject for a child during their school time to understand their interests and to further pursue them in future.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—the importance of science and technology versus the equal or greater importance of history—and presents a clear personal opinion. The ideas are generally relevant, though some arguments, particularly regarding history in geological fields, are slightly confused or under-developed. For instance, the transition into how history helps terrain understanding in geological fields feels abruptly expressed and lacks clear extension. However, the writer successfully outlines the societal and future-proof benefits of science and technology, as well as the lessons of the past found in history. The position is maintained throughout the essay, satisfying the criteria for Band 6.0, as all parts of the prompt are addressed, even if some parts lack the depth required for higher bands.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to paragraph different perspectives and the writer's opinion. However, cohesion is frequently faulty and mechanical. The student relies on repetitive transition phrases like 'There is no denying the fact that' and fragments sentences awkwardly, such as leaving the sentence ending with 'it' stranded at the end of a paragraph without proper completion. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and logical progression between sentences is disrupted by grammatical lapses. Paragraphing is used to separate ideas, but internal paragraph cohesion needs refinement. This performance aligns well with the Band 5.0 descriptors, where some organization is evident, but cohesive devices and referencing are inadequate or inaccurate.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'future-proof', 'marine biologists', and 'Artificial Intelligence'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices throughout the text, such as 'scannity' instead of 'scrutiny', 'school of thoughts' instead of 'schools of thought', and 'requiring' instead of 'required'. Spelling and word-choice errors are present, yet they rarely impede overall communication because the intended meaning can usually be deciphered. This matches the Band 6.0 profile, which features an adequate vocabulary range, occasional errors in word choice, and attempts at less common lexical items.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over complex structures is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('both technology and science is important subject'), incorrect pluralization ('subjects like science and technology are important than other, some says'), and punctuation or run-on errors. Furthermore, articles and prepositions are occasionally misused, as seen in 'in discovery the truth'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur with high frequency and cause some difficulty for the reader. Therefore, this performance fits the Band 5.0 category, where attempts at complex sentences are often faulty and frequent errors persist.

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

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