Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-18

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)

In recent times,private companies are funding many medical research project which in my opinion is not completely appropriate.Government should take up a major role in funding research project.

When medical research projects are funded by private companies they take the credit of the projects and project it as their own work,with minimum stipends and accolades awarded to the individual or team involved in making the project successful.The end product is brought into market with a higher price that a common man could not afford for.Such companies also take the patent of the research projects making the deserving candidate lose the chance of getting recognized by the outer world.

In contrast to the above situation,if the local government funds such research projects then it would be more rewarding to the team which have completed the project by means which the government would grant awards and price money ,making them globally recognized.Further ,the team after achieving the recognition globally would get more opportunity to extend their project or get hired at any research centre to carry out their research work.Also,the award and the price money received for the project would develop a great sense motivation and encourage the team to work better in their future research projects.

In my opinion,if an invidual has to fund a medical research project he or she should be financially sound enough to bear the expenditure of the entire project.It is upto the interest of the individual to choose who would fund the project.Furthermore,if an individual wants to get associated with any private company or any government agency to enhance or expand his work then it would be upon the individual is interest to do what best suits his situation.

I remember back in my childhood ,my father was working for a private company where he designed some machine that were required to build rockets.The company have taken the whole credit and never brought my father is name to the outside world.

To conclude,government funding the medical research projects would be more affective when compared to fundings by private companies or an individual.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by expressing a clear preference for government funding. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. While the arguments against private funding (patent control, high costs) are relevant, the section on individual funding is vague and lacks a clear connection to the main argument. The personal example regarding the father is a bit tangential, as it relates to engineering rather than medical research, which limits the relevance of the evidence. To reach a higher band, ensure that every paragraph directly supports the central thesis and provides more specific, focused examples related to the medical field.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. There is a basic attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'In contrast to the above situation' and 'Furthermore'. However, the flow is occasionally hindered by mechanical transitions and some awkward phrasing, such as 'by means which the government would grant awards'. Referencing is generally clear, but the connection between the paragraph on individual funding and the overall argument is weak, making the progression of ideas feel slightly disjointed. Improved use of linking words would help the essay flow more naturally.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'stipends', 'accolades', and 'expenditure'. However, there are several instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'project it as their own work' (instead of 'present'), 'brought into market' (instead of 'brought to market'), and 'price money' (instead of 'prize money'). Spelling errors like 'invidual' and 'affective' (instead of 'effective') also occur. Expanding the range of precise academic vocabulary would improve the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the patent', 'the deserving candidate'), subject-verb agreement ('The company have taken'), and punctuation (missing spaces after commas). Some sentences are slightly clunky, such as 'a higher price that a common man could not afford for'. While the errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and article usage would be beneficial.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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