Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-11

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

At the present time, the population of some countries includes a relatively large number of young adults, compared with the number of older people.

Do the advantages of this situation outweigh the disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Some nations have relatively higher people from younger generation as compared to elderly population. I believe that there are more benefits of this, although people from age group of 50 to 70 are equally important. In this essay, I will discuss both the advantages and disadvantages of this trend and will also provide suitable examples.

Younger population tends to put less pressure on healthcare systems. Governments can save a lot of money with less burden on healthcare system and use that to help new businesses, generate more jobs, help building better infrastructure and invest in high quality education. People from 18 to 50 age group have a higher employment rate and in return pay more taxes to the Government which directly leads to increase in that country's GDP.

On the other hand, elderly people are very important. They have multiple years of experience and play a vital role in helping young children to learn new skills. It can be learning household skills such as cooking, having a better hygiene, being honest and hard working to learning more broad skills such as learning new skills at job, getting their aid in running a new business and staying patient at difficult times. Moreover, elderly people have played their part by giving much needed upbringing to their children, working or doing business for decades and helping the country both financially and in making ready the new set of youngsters.

To conclude with, a country will not be able to grow positively with scarcity of either one of them. Youngsters provide qualities such as fearlessness, longevity and fitness whereas veterans greatest tool is their experience.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of a young population. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention economic benefits like GDP growth and reduced healthcare pressure, the discussion on the disadvantages is less focused on the prompt's core question—the impact of a large young population—and instead shifts to the general importance of the elderly. To reach a higher band, you should more directly contrast the specific challenges of a youth-heavy demographic (such as potential youth unemployment or lack of intergenerational knowledge transfer) against the benefits, ensuring your position is clearly maintained throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'On the other hand' and 'Moreover' to transition between ideas. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the concluding paragraph introduces new, slightly disconnected points (e.g., 'fearlessness, longevity and fitness') that were not previously discussed. To improve, focus on using a wider range of cohesive devices to link your arguments more fluidly and ensure that your conclusion summarizes the points already made rather than introducing new concepts.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'healthcare systems,' 'infrastructure,' and 'employment rate' correctly. There are some instances of slightly unnatural phrasing, such as 'relatively higher people' instead of 'a higher proportion of people' and 'making ready the new set of youngsters.' While these errors do not impede communication, they limit the precision of your writing. To achieve a higher score, try to incorporate more precise collocations and academic vocabulary to express your ideas with greater sophistication.

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 several grammatical slips, such as 'scarcity of either one of them' (which should refer to groups) and 'veterans greatest tool' (missing possessive apostrophe). Additionally, some phrasing is awkward, such as 'help building better infrastructure' (should be 'help build' or 'help in building'). You have a good grasp of basic grammar, but to reach a higher band, you need to increase the frequency of error-free complex sentences and refine your control over punctuation and article usage.

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

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