Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-09

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)

Nowadays, university students frequently have a debate on whether they should be learning other subjects alongside their major subjects, or only be spending time in learning about their major subject. And, personally I believe in earlier view, bu in my essay I have discussed both th views.

Firstly, students must study other subjects along with their core subject, since students into field like; medical science usually have no idea of streams like personal finances, therby they must gain knowlegde over management of personal finances. Because when they will enter their professional life and will start earning incomes, so they must know how to plan their expenditures, through techniques of budgeting etc. As these techniques will later on help them in better managing their future finances, and aviod getting short on funds, hence it becomes favorable for students to learn about subjects beyond their majors.

On the other hand, some people believe that students in university should learn about their core subject only. For instance, they argue that a computer science student has no need to learn subjects like ; Hummanities, as they believe that such subjects provide with none technical knowledge, hence they belive that, such time must be utillised in learning programming techniques, which in future can help them getting a better job placement.

In my opinion, students must be tought with relevant subjects like ; personal finance, beyond their core subjects only, as such additional subject may not hep them in getting a high income job in their core field, but learning such subjects can definetely help them with better management of their finances in professional life.

To conclude, the view of people thinking that students must be taught additional subjects is supported over just getting skilled in their core field of study, as this idea can help them with better grooming

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both views and state your preference for learning additional subjects, so the response stays focused on the task. The personal-finance example is relevant and explains a practical benefit: students may need budgeting skills when they begin earning. You also represent the opposing view through the computer-science example, linking specialist study with programming skills and employment. However, this side is less fully developed, and the discussion largely contrasts personal finance with technical study rather than exploring a broader range of subjects or benefits. The conclusion repeats your position but ends with the vague phrase “better grooming.” Develop the opposing argument more fully and explain why your preferred approach should apply beyond one example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, your opinion, and a conclusion. Sequencing phrases such as “Firstly,” “On the other hand,” and “To conclude” make the progression easy to follow. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, particularly through repeated use of “students,” “subjects,” and “such.” Some links also make the reasoning harder to follow: the sentence beginning “Because when they will enter…” is a fragment, while “As these techniques…” continues the same idea in another dependent clause. The opinion paragraph repeats the first argument rather than adding a distinct step to the discussion. Use clearer sentence boundaries and vary referencing and transitions to make the progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to discuss education, careers, and money, including “core subject,” “personal finances,” “budgeting,” and “programming techniques.” There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “professional life” and “job placement.” However, spelling errors are frequent and sometimes distract the reader, as in “knowlegde,” “aviod,” “Hummanities,” and “definetely.” Several expressions are imprecise or unnatural, including “streams like personal finances,” “getting short on funds,” and “better grooming.” Repetition of “subjects” and “learn” also limits flexibility. Build accuracy by checking spelling and choosing more natural collocations; for example, refer to “fields such as personal finance” and “avoid financial difficulties.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “since,” “as,” and “which,” and the main ideas are generally understandable. However, complex sentences are often not controlled successfully. “Because when they will enter their professional life…” is an incomplete sentence, and “when they will enter” uses an unsuitable future form after “when.” The opening sentence also has an awkward construction (“have a debate on whether they should be learning”), while “students must be tought with relevant subjects” has an incorrect passive pattern. Punctuation around examples and semicolons is also inconsistent. Practise building complete sentences with one clear main clause, and check verb forms and passive constructions before adding subordinate clauses.

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