Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-28

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 7.5)

It is indisputably important for researchers to develop new medical treatments in the battle against poor health and disease. In my opinion, this research should be funded primarily by governments and well-regulated private companies.

Governments are able to concentrate solely on public interests. They are indebted to tax-payers and have a responsibility to direct that money back into various services benefitting the nation at large. A good example of the important role governments play in medical services and treatments is the theory of disease originated by Louis Pasteur while working for the publicly funded University of Lille in France. It is unlikely he would have had the time or resources to conduct his experiments on his own and questionable if a private company would appreciate the commercial value of his work. Government funding functions much the same way today to fund medical projects without a clear path to profits but enormous importance for public health. Joining A Monthly Book Club

However, governments are notoriously slow-moving, under-funded and less innovative than private corporations. Companies are motivated to generate a profit, which pushes them to compete, innovate, and pay for the best minds in the field. Evidence for this is numerous and includes advances in surgical procedures, stem cell therapy, nutrition, pharmaceuticals, cancer research, and emergency medicine. Government funded projects and hospitals have a tendency to become complacent while private companies must innovate to excel. The risk, naturally, is that these companies will charge exorbitant costs and reserve the best medicine for select, wealthy clientele. Government regulation is therefore needed to keep these corporations in check.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, clearly stating a position that both government and private funding are necessary. The ideas are well-developed, with the student providing a historical example (Louis Pasteur) to support the government-funding argument and a list of modern medical advancements to support the private-sector argument. The conclusion regarding the need for regulation effectively balances the two perspectives. The argument is consistent throughout, and the response is fully relevant to the task. There are no significant omissions, and the position is well-supported with logical reasoning.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized, with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a concluding thought integrated into the second paragraph. Ideas flow smoothly from one to the next. Cohesive devices such as 'However', 'A good example of', and 'Therefore' are used effectively to guide the reader. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two main arguments. One minor issue is the inclusion of the phrase 'Joining A Monthly Book Club' in the middle of the text, which is clearly a stray, irrelevant insertion that disrupts the flow, but this is a minor mechanical error rather than a failure of logical progression.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.5

The vocabulary is precise and appropriate for an academic context. The student uses a range of topic-specific terminology such as 'commercial value', 'exorbitant costs', 'complacent', and 'pharmaceuticals'. The language is natural and demonstrates a good level of sophistication. There are no significant errors in word choice or collocation that impede meaning. The use of phrases like 'indisputably important' and 'notoriously slow-moving' shows a good command of descriptive language and nuance, which elevates the quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.5

The essay demonstrates a wide range of complex structures, including conditional sentences ('It is unlikely he would have had...') and participial phrases. The majority of sentences are error-free, and the control over punctuation and syntax is strong. There are no major grammatical errors that cause confusion. The sentence structures are varied, moving between simple, compound, and complex forms with ease. The writing is fluent and demonstrates a high level of grammatical control, consistent with the requirements for a high band score.

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