Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-18

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people believe that it is best to accept a bad situation, such as an unsatisfactory job or shortage of money. Others argue that it is better to try and improve such situations.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

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

Student answer (Band 5.0)

In some situations people argue that its better the accept the bad situation instead of improving or getting better situations. I will be discussing and giving my opinions on both of these views.

I think that people who accept bad situations are in a finance problem so they are willing to do unsatisfactory jobs and doing hardwork for less money. For some people this might seem unreasonable and say that they should get easier jobs that pay well but its not that easy people who cant find good jobs need to get pay for there living experience and some even need to look after there family. that's the reason most of the people take odd and unsatisfactory jobs and of course not everyone has a good finance and time to improve the situations and get to a better place.

Overall, its always best to get better and try to improve such situations as much as possible. People who can improve there situations get a easier and a better life style of course and i would say people who can improve bad situations to a better one are most likely to be successful and live a comfortable life style some of people are less likely to improve most of them think it is hard to improve and some of them are just lazy to improve.

In Conclusion i think people who improve there situations are less then people who don't improve and accept bad situations. People who can try to improve and get better situations are most likely to have a better life and be happier.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a personal opinion, meeting the basic requirements of the task. However, the development of ideas is limited. The explanation for why people accept bad situations is somewhat repetitive, focusing primarily on financial necessity without exploring other psychological or social factors. The discussion on improving situations is also quite brief and lacks specific examples or depth. To reach a higher band, you should provide more detailed reasoning and concrete examples to support your arguments, rather than relying on general statements about 'being lazy' or 'being successful'.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is very limited and often mechanical. For example, the transition between the second and third paragraphs is abrupt. There is a lack of varied linking words to connect ideas within sentences and paragraphs. Additionally, the referencing is sometimes unclear, such as the use of 'that's the reason' to connect disparate ideas. Improving the flow by using a wider range of transition signals (e.g., 'consequently', 'furthermore', 'on the other hand') would significantly improve the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for a higher band. You rely on simple, repetitive phrasing such as 'bad situation', 'improve', and 'get better'. There are also several word-choice errors, such as 'get pay for there living' instead of 'earn a living' or 'cover their living expenses'. The spelling of 'there' instead of 'their' is a recurring issue. To improve, you should aim to use more sophisticated vocabulary and ensure correct collocations, such as 'financial constraints' instead of 'finance problem'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow of reading. Common issues include subject-verb agreement, incorrect verb forms (e.g., 'its better the accept'), and persistent confusion between 'there', 'their', and 'they're'. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with several run-on sentences that lack necessary commas or full stops. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of basic errors in grammar and punctuation prevents the essay from reaching a higher band score.

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

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