Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-22
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 5.0)
Nowadays, in many countries there are large number of young adults, compared with the number of older people. However, there are both pros and cons of this. In this essay, I will discuss some of the reasons why there is large number of adults are in population of some countries and some of the challenges to be overcome.
Let's begin by looking at the advantages of large number of adults in population. One of the main positives is that they will boost economy of country. What I mean by this is that as they are young and also in majority so they are a lot of people available for different jobs. This can make a country wealthy and can make economy strong.
Turning to the other side of argument small number of older people means there is less efficiency of work. To be more precise small number of people have work experience. As for some works experience is necessary. So if there is small number of old people are in country this often leads to wrong work and a country will not grew in proper way.
To sum up, you need to weigh up the pros of more workers and the cons of less work experience. Personally, I believe the benefits of more workers eventually outweigh any negatives.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of having a young population, taking a clear personal position at the end. However, the ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed, particularly the disadvantage section which struggles to articulate why a lack of older people hinders growth effectively. Furthermore, the length requirement has not been met, as the response contains only 218 words against the mandated 250-word minimum. This negative word count significantly impacts the level of task development and requires a penalty under the band descriptors, resulting in a score of 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay is organised into four paragraphs with a clear introduction and conclusion, demonstrating a basic overall structure. However, the progression of ideas is sometimes mechanical and repetitive. Cohesive devices are basic and occasionally awkward, such as 'Turning to the other side of argument small number of older people means...'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs lacks sophistication and smooth transitions. Referencing is also occasionally unclear. This performance aligns well with the Band 5 descriptors for Coherence and Cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully employing words like 'advantage', 'economy', 'wealthy', and 'experience'. However, there is a noticeable lack of article usage and recurring basic lexical choices, such as repeating 'large number of adults' and 'small number of older people'. There are also minor lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'boost economy of country' missing necessary articles ('boost the economy of the country'). The vocabulary is minimally adequate for communication, placing it squarely at Band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay displays a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentence forms, such as 'What I mean by this is that as they are young and also in majority so they are a lot of people available for different jobs.' However, grammatical accuracy is weak, featuring frequent missing articles ('boost economy of country', 'in population'), punctuation errors, and awkward sentence structures that occasionally impede comprehension. The range of structures is limited, and complex sentences frequently contain errors, which fully justifies a Band 5 score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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