Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-25

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some university students want to learn about other subjects in addition to their main subjects. Others believe it is more important to give all their time and attention to studying for a qualification. Discuss both these views and give your opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 5.0)

There is an difference in prespective that, few university students prefers learning about extra subjects along with their field courses whereas the rest think its is privotal to provide all their time and attention on reading the subjects that provides them qualification. Learning extra subjects other than their main subjects helps a person widen their knowledge while studing the course book helps to score higher which leads to better opportunity.

On one hand, there are many information beyond the course book, where subjects like maths, science, social studies gives us insights on basic direction of knowledge we need to have. Being enthusiastic in subjects apart from course books builds a eagerness and openness to new things. Most of the people who eagar about new things tend to develop searching habit which will direct them addition knowledge. Extra subject means extra knowledge whihc might be useful in near future. For example, Newton didn't let the apple fallen in his head stayed as it is, he searched about it and found about gravitational force.

On the other hand, the primary subjects has been created considering the essential knowledge a person should have and will require in there future. Focusing on those subject will help them get quality education for the experts, leading toward the better opportunity in the future. For example, studing about science in school helps us to understand about engieering field.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses both views required by the prompt, discussing the benefits of exploring extra subjects alongside the importance of focusing purely on qualification-focused main subjects. A basic position is presented, though the conclusion or a clear personal opinion is missing by the end of the text. Ideas are generally relevant, such as mentioning broad knowledge development versus acquiring essential career-focused expertise, but they remain somewhat under-developed and lack extended support. Furthermore, as noted in the length check, the student's response contains only 231 words, thus failing to meet the minimum requirement of 250 words. This under-length shortfall negatively impacts the overall task achievement as it prevents full development of the arguments and examples, such as the brief mention of Newton, which is not fully integrated. Therefore, the task achievement is marked at band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay displays a basic structural framework with an introduction, two body paragraphs representing opposing views, but lacks a proper concluding paragraph. Ideas are arranged with some attempt at logical progression, using simple transitional phrases like "On one hand" and "On the other hand". However, paragraphing and cohesive devices are at times mechanical and repetitive. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as pronoun usage referring back to abstract nouns. While the text remains readable overall, the lack of a conclusion and the somewhat formulaic transitions limit the coherence and cohesion of the response, placing it firmly at a band 5.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common words and phrases such as "pivotal", "enthusiastic", and "gravitational force". However, there are numerous lexical inaccuracies and spelling errors throughout the text, including "prespective" instead of perspective, "prefers" instead of prefer, "privotal" instead of pivotal, "studing" instead of studying, "whihc" instead of which, and "eagar" instead of eager. Collocations are sometimes awkward, such as "builds a eagerness". Despite these noticeable errors, the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the core meaning, earning a band 5.5 for this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response features a mix of simple and somewhat complex sentence forms, but grammatical accuracy is weak. There are frequent errors in verb tense, agreement, and word formation. Examples include "There is an difference in prespective that, few university students prefers...", where articles, prepositions, and subject-verb agreement are flawed. Other notable errors include "the primary subjects has been created" (plural/singular mismatch) and "leading toward the better opportunity" (unnecessary article). Complex structures are attempted but often contain faults. While these errors rarely completely obscure communication, their high frequency across sentences prevents the writer from achieving a higher band, resulting in a score of 5.0.

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

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