Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-08

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)

Some students of university want to increase their knowlege about their subjects so they learn other subjects in addition to their main subjects, but others believe it more important to give their overall time and attention to their relevant subjects. According to my opininon, it is a good habit to learn more about your subject from other books.

To begin with, some students with the accounting and medical field would learn books to gain more knowledge. There are many benefits of learning other subjects. Firstly, learning other subjects would increase your knowledge. After this, one can boost their practical skills from learning other subjects. For example, if a student of accounting and finance learn tax rules of his country and also learn tax rules of any other country like Australia would increase his skills to high level.

Admittedly, there are some negative outcomes of learning other subjects. If a student gives more time to other subjects rather than his main subject he has great chance of failure. The reason behind this is that he has not given full time to his main syllabus. The other negative outcome is that if he read books that oppose his skills not of increasing, so he cannot get any benefit of reading rather this wastes his time too much.

To conclude, this is good skill of reading and learning books but one should have knowledge of separating a good book from a bad one. The benefits of learning other subjects outweighs its disadvantages but one should be careful in choosing books.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You present a relevant opinion—that learning beyond a main subject can be beneficial—and discuss advantages as well as risks, including the possibility of neglecting core studies. However, the task asks you to discuss both views, and the argument for concentrating exclusively on a qualification is only briefly covered as a disadvantage; it is not developed as a distinct viewpoint. Several ideas are also unclear or insufficiently supported, such as the claim that reading books that “oppose his skills” brings no benefit. The accounting example is relevant but its explanation is difficult to follow. The response is 249 words, one word below the required minimum, and the eight words copied from the prompt were not counted. Develop both positions more fully and explain your examples clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph on benefits, one on drawbacks, and a conclusion. Sequencing within the benefits paragraph is generally clear, and signposts such as “To begin with,” “Firstly,” and “To conclude” help show the stages of the argument. However, progression is sometimes mechanical, with repeated use of “other subjects” and “negative outcome,” and the relationship between ideas is not always clear. For example, “After this” does not accurately signal the link between increased knowledge and practical skills, while the sentence about books that “oppose his skills” is hard to connect to the preceding point. Use clearer referencing and transitions, and organise the two viewpoints as distinct, balanced arguments.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use a basic range of topic-related vocabulary, including “qualification,” “practical skills,” “syllabus,” and “disadvantages,” so the main subject is usually identifiable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate enough to make parts of the message difficult to understand. Phrases such as “increase your knowlege about their subjects,” “learn books,” and “skills to high level” are not natural in this context. There are also spelling errors, including “knowlege” and “opininon.” Aim for more precise academic phrasing and check spelling; for instance, describe students as gaining knowledge by studying additional subjects, rather than “learning books.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some complex sentences, including conditional structures such as “If a student gives more time to other subjects … he has great chance of failure,” and you use simple sentences to make the main points accessible. However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in sentence construction, agreement, articles, and verb forms. For example, “a student of accounting and finance learn” needs subject–verb agreement, and “would increase your skills” shifts from a third-person subject to “your.” The opening sentence also contains an incomplete construction around “it more important,” and the final sentence has an agreement error in “outweighs its disadvantages.” Practise building accurate complex sentences and check that subjects, verbs, and pronouns remain consistent.

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