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, the 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 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 a 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 | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of a population with a large number of young adults, establishing a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Ideas such as economic growth, innovation, and infrastructure challenges are mentioned and supported with relevant reasoning. However, the development of these points is somewhat limited due to the overall length of the text. Crucially, the length requirement of a minimum of 250 words has not been met, as the response contains only 201 words. This falling short of the word count constraint prevents the task from being fully developed, impacting the task response score significantly under IELTS guidelines.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay demonstrates a clear overall structure with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs covering both sides of the argument, and a concluding statement. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas logically, such as distinguishing economic benefits from infrastructure challenges. Cohesive devices are employed adequately to link sentences and sections together, including phrases like 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion'. Referencing and substitution are generally clear, allowing the reader to follow the progression of thought easily, despite the shorter overall length of the text.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student displays an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'demographic structure', 'predominantly larger', 'labor market', and 'civic engagement'. While communication is clear throughout, there are minor awkward phrasings, such as 'young adults population' in the final paragraph. Word choices are generally appropriate, and spelling is accurate. The use of vocabulary allows the writer to convey their ideas sufficiently, though greater precision and a wider variety of sophisticated phrasing would be needed for a higher band score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in grammatical structures. Examples include conditional and participial clauses such as 'making them vital assets in today's fast-changing labor market' and 'encouraging governments to address pressing social concerns'. There are a few minor grammatical slips and awkward phrasings, such as the missing article in 'overall contributions of a dynamic and skillful youth... makes this trend', but these errors are infrequent and do not impede communication. The majority of simple sentences are accurate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.