Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-21

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 6.0)

Nowadays, many private companies organize medical researches. I think these companies are much more efficient in this case, because they can allocate resources and organize research conditions which are not available to individual scientists, and they have less institutions and costs as government.

First of all, one of the main benefits of private companies in case of medical researches is their size which afford them to assign significant amount of various resources, such as human labor with scientists who have various views, money and materials. Individuals, even if they have enough money, cannot provide researches by themselves, because the scale of their work is very limited and they need a view from the opposite side without which they can make mistakes. For example, history knows many cases when small research groups published their works with inappropriate data, because of limitations in their conditions. In case of private companies, the risk of these mistakes is much lower.

Second of all, private companies conduct research more effective than government for a number of reasons. Firstly, the size of private companies is much smaller than states, thus they do not need to distribute fundings in a large number of institutions, which allows them to concentrate money only in important areas. Secondly, the phenomenon of corruption is not as widespread in firms as in government establishments. If the state allocates money, much of them will be 'lost', whereas people in private firms are interested in their incomes after researches. For example, in the Soviet Union, the state was in charge of all spheres of life, including medicine. Money were often spent with political goals which made Soviet medicine ineffective.

In conclusion, while many people think that government should organize various medicine researches, I believe that private institutions will be more efficient in this case, because they have enough resources and their size afford them to use them in appropriate ways.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by clearly stating a preference for private companies. The position is consistent throughout. The ideas are relevant, such as the discussion on resource allocation and the comparison with government bureaucracy. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the argument regarding the Soviet Union is a specific historical example, but the connection to modern medical research could be more nuanced. The response covers all parts of the task, but the depth of analysis is more characteristic of a Band 6.5 or 7.0, as some points are stated rather than fully explored.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central topic. Cohesive devices such as 'First of all', 'Secondly', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing and flow, such as the transition between the discussion of individuals and the example of small research groups. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct arguments, contributing to the overall coherence of the piece.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their opinion clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'allocate resources', 'inappropriate data', and 'bureaucracy' (implied). However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'organize medical researches' (research is uncountable) and 'size of private companies is much smaller than states' (which is a slightly awkward comparison). The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but lacks the sophistication and precision required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'Money were often spent' (subject-verb agreement), 'conduct research more effective' (adverb needed), and 'size... afford them' (subject-verb agreement). These errors are noticeable but do not impede communication. The control of punctuation is generally good, but the grammatical slips are frequent enough to prevent the essay from reaching the Band 7 level, where the majority of sentences should be error-free.

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

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