Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-13
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)
Currently, the demographic structure of several nations is leaning toward a larger population of young adults compared to the elderly. In my opinion, advantages of a predominantly larger young population significantly outweigh the potential drawbacks.
On the one hand, young adults serve as a powerful engine for the country's social and economic growth and development. They are more adaptive, innovative, and eager to acquire modern skills, making them vital assets in today's fast-changing labour market. The young entrepreneurs establish new ventures, working tirelessly to drive more production and economic growth overall. Today's high digital literacy enables the youngsters to excel in the modern technological sector. Beyond business, a dynamic youth demographic fosters active civic engagement, encouraging governments to address pressing social concerns and promote policy reforms.
On the other hand, a larger youth population presents noticeable infrastructure challenges. The demand rises for quality of education, better health facilities and employment. This fosters intense competition leading to unemployment if national infrastructure fails to expand at the same time.
In conclusion, although high concentration of young adults population increases competition for limited resources, overall contributions of a dynamic and skillful youth to the country's long-term goals, makes this trend far more advantageous.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of a population with a large number of young adults, clearly stating their position that the advantages outweigh the drawbacks. Ideas regarding economic growth, innovation, and infrastructure challenges are relevant and supported to an extent. However, because the response contains only 200 words, falling short of the 250-word minimum requirement, the task is only partially addressed in terms of full development and depth. This under-length issue prevents the ideas from being fully extended. Therefore, based on the descriptors for Task Achievement, the response fits best at Band 5.5 due to the negative impact of the word count penalty on overall development.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response exhibits a clear overall progression and is logically organised into an introduction, body paragraphs covering advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' are employed to structure the argument effectively, although some referencing and transitional links could be smoother. Despite the brevity of the essay, the logical flow is maintained throughout, satisfying the requirements for Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and topic-specific terms such as 'demographic structure', 'labour market', 'digital literacy', and 'civic engagement'. While there are minor awkward phrasings like 'high concentration of young adults population' and a missing article before 'overall contributions', these lexical errors do not impede communication. The vocabulary choices are generally appropriate and sufficient to convey the intended meaning, aligning well with the Band 6.0 descriptors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and participial phrases successfully, as seen in sentences like 'They are more adaptive, innovative, and eager to acquire modern skills, making them vital assets...' There are some grammatical errors and minor omissions, such as 'advantages of a predominantly larger young population' and the missing article in 'makes this trend far more advantageous'. However, these errors do not impede communication and the punctuation is generally sound, supporting a Band 6.0 score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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