Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-23

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)

It is often argumentative whether the private companies or the government should finance medical researches.While private funding has some benefits, I firmly believe that government funding is the most reliable and ethical option.

Private companies are profit-driven their aim is not to help the people.This will lead them to research on profitable diseases like cosmetics and obesity rather than poor people's diseases like T.B ,cholera and malaria.To maintain their reputation these companies may go to the extent of withholding negative results.For example ,here in Zimbabwe private companies won't fund the research of cholera .

In contast, when the government takes responsibility for medical research the primary focus shifts from profit to public welfare. The government has a huge budget for the health of citizens and research is not for the rich only but for all individuals.The results are transparent and accessible to society. A good example is during the Covid 19 pandemic when the government carried out research and provided the vaccine for free.Private conpanies wanted to charge high amounts.

In conclusion,although private companies can be allowed to contribute in medical advancement, medical research should be led by the government to ensure fairness transparency and public welfare rather than profit.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that government funding is the most reliable and ethical option for medical research. The main ideas are supported with arguments regarding profit motives versus public welfare, and a specific local example from Zimbabwe is provided. However, the response falls significantly short of the word count requirement, containing only 200 words instead of the minimum 250 words. This under-length impacts the full development of ideas, leading to a penalty under Task Achievement where some arguments feel slightly compressed. To achieve a higher band, the writer must expand on their examples and extend their reasoning to meet the required length. Band score: 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a clear overall structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different arguments, with one body paragraph dedicated to private companies and another focusing on government funding. Cohesive devices such as 'In contrast' and 'In conclusion' are employed to guide the reader through the text. However, referencing and transitions are at times slightly mechanical or abrupt, such as the transition into the discussion on Zimbabwe. Despite these minor limitations, the logical progression is generally maintained throughout the response. Band score: 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'profit-driven,' 'public welfare,' 'transparent,' and 'advancement.' There are some vocabulary and spelling errors, such as 'researches' (research is uncountable), 'contast' (contrast), and 'conpanies' (companies), but these do not impede communication. The writer attempts some less common lexical items, although occasional awkward collocations appear, such as 'research of cholera' instead of 'research into cholera.' Overall, the lexical control is sufficient to convey the intended meaning clearly. Band score: 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional or concessive clauses such as 'While private funding has some benefits, I firmly believe...' and 'when the government takes responsibility...'. There are several grammatical errors and punctuation lapses, including missing spaces after commas and periods (e.g., 'diseases like T.B ,cholera'), subject-verb agreement issues, and minor run-on structures like 'Private companies are profit-driven their aim is not to help the people.' Nevertheless, the grammatical errors rarely impede communication and the core message remains understandable. Band score: 5.5.

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