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)

Despite progressing rapidly in learning methods, some students still want to learn other subjects in addition to their main subjects, while others agrue that it is more pivota for them l to give their time and attention to studing for a qualification. From my perspective, It can be beneficial for learners to gain diverse range of knowledge by studing other courses as well.

On one hand, Studing multiple subjects can assist individuals to become versatile, a person who can apply his knowledge and skills in different fields for betterment of his conditions in the future. Additionally, learning various courses can provide several opportunities to these people, not even in their profession but also in others. For instance, many developing countries are progressing rapidly in their socio-economic growth by implementing new education models, which include equal weightage for other and major courses. Therefore, some students want to learn other courses as well to enhance their career opportunities.

On other hand, Studing other courses can place additional pressure on financial resources of students families and can be a cause of distraction for learners. In addition, this policy can divide students' focus and time to study their main courses. The clear illustration of this is provided by several education institutes who are facing a significant decline in their students' progress, despite teaching additional courses with main subujects.

Although I believe that adding other subjects can place an additional burden on individuals financial money and can be a source of losing a focus. However, the benefit of getting more career options in the future can outweigh its disadvantages.

To conclude, Studing other courses have many pros and cons, but from my persepctive, it can open many doors to improve individuals circumstances which can outweigh its disadvanatge of distrraction.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views on whether university students should study other subjects or focus solely on their main qualifications, and the writer provides a clear personal position throughout. Ideas are extended and supported, such as mentioning how versatility helps individuals in their future careers, and citing the example of developing countries. However, there is a tendency to over-generalize in certain arguments, and some supporting points could be further elaborated with deeper context to push into the higher band levels. Overall, the task is successfully fulfilled with a clear stance.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Information and ideas are generally coherent, and the paragraphing is appropriately structured with distinct introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal shifts in arguments, such as "On one hand" and "On other hand," though some referencing is slightly clunky or repetitive. For instance, the transition "Although I believe that... However, the benefit..." is grammatically faulty because it combines a subordinating conjunction with a coordinating conjunction in consecutive clauses. Paragraphing is functional, but overall cohesion occasionally feels slightly mechanical rather than entirely natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as "versatile," "socio-economic growth," and "financial resources." However, there are several spelling and word-choice errors that detract from the overall quality, such as "agrue" instead of "argue," "pivota" and "l" instead of "pivotal," "studing" instead of "studying," "persepctive" instead of "perspective," and "disadvanatge" instead of "disadvantage." Furthermore, phrases like "financial money" are redundant and awkward. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, these frequent lexical and spelling inaccuracies cap the score at band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over sentence structures. There are, however, frequent grammatical errors and punctuation slips throughout the text. Examples include missing articles («gain diverse range» instead of «gain a diverse range»), preposition issues («focus and time to study» instead of «focus and time for studying»), and flawed sentence architecture, particularly the concessive fragment: «Although I believe that... However, the benefit...». Despite these errors, communication is rarely impeded, and the meaning of the arguments remains clear to the reader, aligning well with the descriptors for Band 6.

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