Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-16

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)

Medical research projects are very crucial to scientific developments in the medical field, which needs to be conducted under experts' supervision and in controlled environments funded by the governments. However, nowadays many medical research projects are funded by private companies.In my opinion private companies and individuals should not be allowed to conduct any medical research projects on their own if it is not in collaboration or undersupervision of the government. There are different reasons for it.

Firstly, medical projects are not like engineering projects where an unintentional mistake can be corrected later on, It deals with living beings so a small mistake can cause a huge mishap, ultimately resulting in an individuals death.

Secondly, these researches should be conducted in controlled environments like scientific laboratories, for individuals and private companies it might require a hefty amount of money to do so.

Whereas, for government it is quite easy to carry out these researches by hiring expert researchers making the findings more reliable to implement because government has access to fully equipped labs and in case the government fell short of resources it can easily source them from other countries which for an individual or a private company would be very difficult

Overall, I believe that government should be the one sole supervisor and representative of any medical research projects. Private companies and individuals should not be completely sidelined. If government sees potential in any private company or skilled individual then they should be given a chance under the supervision of the experts.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing who should fund and conduct medical research, presenting a clear position that government oversight is essential. The position is maintained throughout the essay. Ideas are extended and supported with relevant reasoning, such as the high stakes of medical errors involving living beings and the financial barrier of maintaining controlled laboratory environments. However, the development tends to generalise slightly, and the discussion could benefit from a specific, concrete example of a medical project or scandal to fully substantiate the claims. Nonetheless, the task is addressed adequately for a Band 6.5, leaning towards Band 7 given the clear stance and distinct supporting points.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs featuring distinct reasons, and a logical conclusion. The student uses basic cohesive devices effectively, such as 'Firstly,' 'Secondly,' and 'Whereas,' which help guide the reader through the arguments. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate different ideas. However, referencing and cohesive links are occasionally mechanical or slightly repetitive, and sentence boundaries are sometimes blurred (e.g., run-on structures like 'corrected later on, It deals with...'). Progression is generally clear, but smoother transitional phrases between paragraphs would elevate the cohesion to a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as 'supervision,' 'controlled environments,' 'hefty amount of money,' and 'reliable.' There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, though occasional inaccuracies in word choice or collocation occur, such as 'research should be carried' (missing 'out') and 'undersupervision' (written as one word or with a spacing issue). Spelling is generally accurate, and vocabulary errors do not impede communication, allowing the reader to easily follow the arguments presented.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms. The writer attempts complex structures using conditional clauses and relative clauses, such as 'If government sees potential in any private company or skilled individual then they should be given a chance...' There are, however, several grammatical errors and punctuation lapses, including comma splices ('corrected later on, It deals with') and missing articles ('for government it is quite easy'). While these errors are noticeable, they rarely impede communication, and the overall sentence control is sufficient for a Band 6.

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