Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-21
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 5.5)
Many individual believe that the accepting bad situations such as unsatisfactory job or shortage of money is better option, while the others argue that try to improve situation for better. In this essay i will discuss both the view and from my perspective it is better to try and improve the situation.
On the one hand, some people believe that accepting unsatisfactory job or shortage of money is better way to handle the situation. The reason behind this can be many, because many situation can not be changed immediately. Because leaving unsatisfactory job can be risky without having any strong security of income. There are many situations in that case a person can not leave their job. For instance, if earning of a person from the job is the only medium of their income and to fulfill their basic needs, therefore in that case a person can not leave the job and have to accept the situation.
On the other hand, others believe that it is better option to try for better situation, because trying to make situation better to improve the quality of life and to ear more money. By improving skills and trying other ways of earning, a bad situation can converted into better. For instance, a person can, learn new skills and can start small earnings by using that skills can get better job and ultimately financial problems also can be solved.
In conclusion, it is better to improve the situation by gaining skills which can improve the job status and can solve the shortage of money than doing unsatisfactory job and earning lower amount of money .
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 response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the explanation for why one might accept a bad situation is repetitive, focusing mainly on the fear of losing income. The second body paragraph regarding improving one's situation is also quite brief and lacks depth in terms of specific examples or logical extension. While the prompt is addressed, the arguments could be more fully developed with more sophisticated reasoning to reach a higher band. The position is consistent throughout the essay.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' are used to signal the structure. However, the flow within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical, and the use of referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as 'many situation' or 'in that case'. While the progression of ideas is generally clear, the transition between sentences could be smoother to improve the overall coherence of the argument.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There is frequent repetition of basic terms like 'situation', 'better', and 'job'. Some word choices are slightly unnatural, such as 'ear more money' (likely a typo for 'earn') and 'start small earnings'. The student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary, but the range is limited, and there is little evidence of less common lexical items or idiomatic collocations. Improving the variety of vocabulary would significantly enhance the quality of the writing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('Many individual believe'), missing articles ('the accepting', 'a bad situation'), and awkward phrasing ('a bad situation can converted into better'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are persistent throughout the text. To improve, the student should focus on basic sentence construction, article usage, and ensuring that verb tenses are used correctly in complex structures.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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