Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-12

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 7.0)

In recent years, the land scape of medical research has shifted significantly toward private sector financing. While private enterprises bring in valuable efficiency and innovation to the medical field ,I believe that medical research should ideally be a collaborative effort funded by both governments and private entities rather than relying on a single source.

On the one hand private companies and wealthy individual philanthropists play a vital role in accelerating medical breakthroughs.

Driven by market competition and profit incentives , private pharmaceutical firms often possess the vast financial resources and agility required to develop and test new drugs rapidly . for example during global health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic , private laboratories utilized cutting edge technology to manufacture effective vaccines in record time. furthermore, billions into specialized research for rare diseases , filling critical funding gaps that public institutions might over look.

On the other hand, relying exclusively on private funding introduces significant ethical and practical risks, making government oversight and public funding indispensable . private corporations are fundamentally motivated by profit , which can lead them to prioritize highly lucrative cosmetic treatments or chronic lifestyle drugs over life saving treatments for poorer populations

In contrast , government funded research priorities public health out comes over financial gain. Public institutions such as national institutes of health or state universities , focus heavily on fundamental scientific research and public welfare. For instance research into tropical diseases or basic epidemiology is rarely profitable for corporations, yet it is vital for global safety and is almost always sustained by public tax money .

In conclusion , neither sector can successfully shoulder the burden of medical research alone. While private fundings drives rapid innovation and commercial viability government funding ensures ethical standards , equity , and focus on essential public health needs. Ultimately a balanced , public private partnership is the most effective way to advance health care for all of society.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, clearly stating a position in favor of a collaborative approach between government and private sectors. The ideas are well-developed, with specific examples provided, such as the COVID-19 vaccine development and the distinction between lucrative lifestyle drugs and essential public health research. The argument is consistent throughout the essay, and the conclusion effectively synthesizes the points made. The response is well-structured and directly answers the question regarding who should fund medical research, demonstrating a clear understanding of the task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Each paragraph has a central theme, and the progression of ideas is smooth. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'In contrast', and 'Furthermore' are used effectively to link ideas. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the benefits of private funding from the necessity of government oversight. While the flow is generally natural, some minor improvements in the variety of transition signals could elevate the cohesion further, but the current structure is already highly effective.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally precise and appropriate for an academic context. Phrases such as 'land scape', 'market competition', 'profit incentives', and 'fundamental scientific research' demonstrate a good command of topic-specific language. There are some minor issues, such as the spelling of 'land scape' (landscape) and 'fundings' (funding), but these are minor slips that do not impede communication. The student makes a good attempt at using less common lexical items, which contributes to a strong overall performance in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The student demonstrates a good range of complex structures, including conditional-like reasoning and subordinate clauses. Most sentences are error-free, and the meaning is always clear. There are some punctuation errors, such as missing spaces after commas and periods (e.g., 'field ,I', 'time. for example', 'pandemic , private'), and occasional capitalization issues. However, these are non-systematic errors that do not detract from the overall clarity of the writing. The grammatical control is solid, and the variety of structures used is sufficient for a high band score.

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