Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-29

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 5.5)

Some university students perfer to study other subjects, while other argue that their main courses are crucial for them in all terms. In my opinion both arguements are valid for students growth and develope widespread knowledge, which i will discuss in the following paragraphs with potential reasons regarding this phenomenon.

Firstly, the main reason behind this phenomenon is a single subject or study can not provide all posibilities to get high paid job and socail skills. On the hand, after their graduation they will face numereous rejections and broken mentally or physically, while working in the workplace like office they need to have communicatinal skill, empathy and teamwork. Furthermore, academic knowledge make them well on paper, although personality, confidence, leadership quality and critical thinking all these things matter in real life. For instance, a famous comedian kapil sharma was a decent student in his school, despite he developed humour and entertaining personality in him while studying in college and school.

Moreover, to master any kind of skill there are many studies suggests that focus on one thing at one time. In the competition world or society to get a particular high paid job and building own business requires dedication and perseverance. while studying in universities

there are advanced subjects and projects which contributed to build perfect future for student, after the college and university they need to secure a well paid job to balance and support their family. Whereas, many students found jobless and unemployed after graduation, the reason they did not perform well in their studies.

In conclusion, Social skills are equally important as ascdemic for the student, while in university and college students are must to learn or focus on academic projects as compared to other skills.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—learning other subjects versus focusing exclusively on the main qualification—and provides a clear personal opinion. The ideas presented, such as the need for soft skills alongside academic performance, are relevant and extended. For instance, the mention of communication skills, empathy, and teamwork in the workplace supports the argument for broadening one's educational scope. However, some arguments lack complete clarity or depth, such as the slightly disjointed example of Kapil Sharma and the generalized points on unemployment in the third paragraph. Overall, the response fulfills the requirements of Band 6 by addressing the prompt fully, though some ideas remain slightly under-developed or unclear.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, separating the introduction, two body paragraphs representing different facets of the debate, and a conclusion. However, cohesion is frequently faulty or mechanical. For example, transitional phrases like 'On the hand' (a typo for on the other hand), 'Furthermore', and 'Moreover' are used somewhat abruptly, and referencing is occasionally unclear (e.g., 'the reason they did not perform well'). Progression is somewhat disrupted by abrupt shifts in ideas within the body paragraphs. These issues align with the characteristics of a Band 6 performance, where logical flow is present but cohesive devices and paragraph internal structure require more precision.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'perseverance', 'unemployed', and 'communicatinal skill'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'perfer' instead of prefer, 'arguements' instead of arguments, 'develope' instead of develop, 'posibilities' instead of possibilities, 'socail' instead of social, 'numereous' instead of numerous, 'ascdemic' instead of academic, and lowercase 'i'. These errors do not generally impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the train of thought, which places the vocabulary firmly at Band 5.5 to 6.0. Given the frequency of basic spelling slips despite the attempt at broader vocabulary, a score of 5.5 is appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over clause structures through sentences like 'Some university students perfer to study other subjects, while other argue that their main courses are crucial...' and 'Furthermore, academic knowledge make them well on paper, although personality...'. Nevertheless, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation lapses, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('knowledge make them', 'studies suggests'), missing prepositions, and run-on structures ('In the competition world or society to get a particular high paid job and building own business requires...'). These errors occasionally cause strain or require re-reading, matching the descriptor for Band 5, 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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