Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Nowadays, many medical research projects are funded by private companies. In your opinion, do you think that research should be carried by private companies, individuals or government?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

These days a large amount of medical research is funded by private companies. Although individuals and business man can also contribute towards medical research. In my opinion i think it should be conducted by the government it self as they should take the responsibility of funding and research.

There are many reasons that governments are best suited for this role. Firstly because medical research is important for public health rather than making profits. Governments can invest in research in to these different disease etc as private companies may not be able to do that due to financial concerns. For example a government researches into a rare diseases which targets small number of people without making any business out of it. Most importantly these areas won't be ignored.

Further more governments can have long term projects where as private companies may short period ones.

In my opinion the research project should be given to government as it would be long term and most importantly they can cover costs.

However giving these projects to private companies also have an advantage as they could bring up skilled labour therefore research can be done on a higher level due to its advance technology. Furthermore due to these advancements research can be done quickly due to which we can get to know the results on early stages, For instance private companies can turn the discoveries made by government into a practical medicines.

In my opinion private companies can also be trusted as they do the research and every other task very efficiently.

Overall governments should do all the research into medical discoveries as they would not have any financial problems however private companies can also conduct the research because they have advanced technologies due to which research can be done in a shorter period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is identifiable: you favour government funding and responsibility, while acknowledging that private companies can contribute through technology and practical applications. You also give relevant reasons, including public-health priorities, research into rare diseases, and the possibility of longer-term projects. However, the discussion is only partly developed. The rare-disease example is useful but hypothetical and brief, while the claims that governments can cover costs and that private firms work efficiently are asserted rather than explained. The response also shifts between who should fund research and who should conduct it, without clearly distinguishing these roles. Develop each main reason with a fuller explanation or a specific example, and maintain a precise position throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure, with an opening position, supporting points, a counterpoint about private companies, and a conclusion. Paragraphing helps separate these stages. However, progression within and between paragraphs is uneven: the sentence beginning “Further more” introduces a new point but is not developed, and the following paragraph repeats the preference for government rather than advancing the argument. Linking expressions such as “In my opinion,” “Most importantly,” and “Furthermore” are sometimes repetitive or do not show the exact relationship between ideas. The conclusion also repeats earlier claims without resolving the distinction between funding and conducting research. Group related reasons together and use clearer references and transitions to show how each point supports your position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “public health,” “rare diseases,” “financial concerns,” “long term projects,” and “advanced technologies.” These choices show some awareness of the subject and allow the reader to follow your argument. However, the range is limited and several expressions are imprecise or awkward, such as “making any business out of it,” “on early stages,” and “practical medicines.” There are also spelling and word-form problems, including “business man,” “Further more,” and “advance technology.” Aim for more precise academic collocations and check spelling and word forms carefully. For example, describe research as “commercially viable” or “not commercially attractive,” and refer to medicines being “developed for practical use.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast with “Although” and clauses introduced by “as” and “because.” The main message is generally understandable, but control is inconsistent, and some sentence structures are incomplete or awkward. “Although individuals and business man can also contribute…” is a dependent clause presented as a sentence, while “Firstly because medical research is important…” also lacks a complete main clause. Other examples include “a rare diseases which targets” and “private companies may short period ones,” where agreement or sentence construction is faulty. Capitalisation and punctuation also need attention, particularly “i” and the comma splice before “For instance.” Practise forming complete clauses and checking agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries.

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