Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-24
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)
In recent times, many scholars are earger to study extra subjects except from their core subjects. While some students prefers to learn about main subjects and more focused towards to passout from university. I will discuss both these views in the below paragraph and I will give personal opinion at the end.
Initially, individuals who wants to study about other subjects have a reason to do that. The foremost reason is to develop a skill which can benefit them in future, because nowadays companies are preferring skillfull people more than who has only theortical knowlede. Also, addition of other subjects can be useful for increasing knowledge upon those subjects and adapting the various knownful patterns from it. For example, in Mumbai from past few years, on students demand several college is providing an extra practical learning based subject in studies and it benefited students who wanted to learn about ethical based scenarios. Also, it affected on employment because of students gained very thoughfull things from subjects, so students were finding job easily to grow their professional life. There are many other advantages for learning additional subjects such as, student can make it as a backup plan, It can be a future investment for higher studies or students can learn in their free time rather than wasting time in other things. As a result, I think it is good to learn about extra subjects with core ones, as it can give many benefits in student's life.
On the other hand, some scholars says that focusing on main subject for qualification is important. This is a common basic thought in few students, but it has several drawbacks. This can highly affect on student's job opportunity, as we discussed earlier companies are interested in skillfull person. Therefore, people with only basic knowlegde can cause unemployement in their life because they do not have any practical knowledge. Also, if students achieve jobs then they will not be in a higher position, again it needs greater knowledge to pursue in career. As a result, people with only theoritical studies leads to an unemployement, low salary jobs.
In conclusion, I discussed both these views with relevant examples, and I agree with the students who wants to learn about other subjects with main sujects. However, students with just theoritical knowledge can stuck at many situations regarding to their career for not learning other subjects. Thus, it is better to learn something which can help us to grow in future.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
You address both views and state a clear preference for studying additional subjects, so the response is relevant to the task. The first body paragraph gives several reasons, including practical skills, broader knowledge and a possible backup plan, and the Mumbai example attempts to illustrate these benefits. However, the discussion is uneven: the opposing view is presented mainly through disadvantages, rather than explaining why students may reasonably prioritise their qualification, such as limited time or the need for specialist expertise. Some claims, including that theoretical study leads to unemployment or low-paid work, are too broad and are not supported with a specific example. Develop both perspectives more evenly and explain the evidence behind your claims to make the response more complete.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion that restates your opinion. Linking expressions such as “Initially,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the main stages. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes weakened by repeated points about employment and career prospects, and the long first body paragraph combines several benefits without clearly prioritising or grouping them. Some connections are also awkward or unclear, particularly “Also, it affected on employment because of students gained…” and the shift from the Mumbai example to a list of further advantages. Organise each paragraph around one main claim, then explain and illustrate it before moving to the next point.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You attempt vocabulary relevant to education and employment, including “core subjects,” “practical learning,” “backup plan,” and “higher studies.” These choices show an effort to discuss the topic beyond very basic language. However, the range is limited by frequent spelling errors and inaccurate word choice or collocation, which sometimes make meaning difficult to follow. Examples include “skillfull,” “theortical knowlede,” “knownful patterns,” and “thoughfull things”; “passout from university” is also not a natural expression in this context. Repetition of “subjects,” “students,” and “knowledge” further restricts flexibility. Build a reliable set of topic-specific phrases and check spelling and collocations, especially when using less familiar vocabulary.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You use both simple sentences and attempts at longer structures, including clauses with “because,” “as,” and “while.” This gives the response some variety, but complex sentences are often not controlled accurately, and errors occur frequently enough to make parts of the argument difficult to read. For example, “some students prefers” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “individuals who wants” repeats this problem. The sentence beginning “Also, it affected on employment because of students gained…” has faulty clause construction, and “people with only theoritical studies leads” has an agreement problem. There are also issues with articles, plurals and sentence boundaries. Practise building accurate sentences around one main clause, then add subordinate clauses only when their grammatical relationship is clear.
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