Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-09
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)
Some people argue that accepting a bad situation is the good option, such as an challenged financial issue or unsatisfactory work, whereas others believe it is better to attempt and enhance such conditions. Although accepting a terrible situation is more convenient, i believe trying and put effort on improving situation is better choice.
On the one hand, Accepting your conditions is much good choice because it is hard to overcome and easy to accept. In today's modern world people forget to deal with challenges and mold themselves to blend in bad situations, such as if someone unlike their environment on their job or office, rather than alter the job they try to blend in situation even if its cause mental stress. Likely, Despite, earning more money, people try to convince themself that they can live with unstable financial conditions. I disagree with that.
On the another hand, human's nature motivate them to achieve big and overcome the bad situation, while it is far more challenging. It is better to alter the bad conditions . Moreover, unstopping attempts assist in improving any difficult conditions; however, its depend on consistency and how much it wanted. For example, Facebook founder starting their company in home garage and he succeed because he never stop trying to alter this situation. i am completely agree that individual need to try and improve such situations.
In conclusion: I believe attempting make a huge difference in alter the situation, while accepting only make make your condition harsh than before
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 argument regarding the 'Facebook founder' is a relevant example, but the explanation of how this relates to the broader concept of improving one's situation is slightly underdeveloped. The essay covers all parts of the prompt, but the reasoning could be more sophisticated to reach a higher band. The position is consistent throughout, though the conclusion is quite brief and lacks a summary of the main points discussed.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the one hand', 'On the another hand', and 'Moreover', but some are used incorrectly or mechanically (e.g., 'Likely, Despite, earning more money'). The referencing is occasionally unclear, and the transition between sentences sometimes feels abrupt. While the overall structure is coherent, the use of cohesive devices needs to be more natural and precise to improve the flow of the argument.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There are several instances of awkward collocations and word choice errors, such as 'challenged financial issue' instead of 'financial challenges' and 'unstopping attempts' instead of 'persistent efforts'. Some words are repeated, and the range of vocabulary is somewhat limited to basic terms. To improve, you should focus on learning more precise collocations and academic vocabulary to express your ideas more effectively.
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 impede clarity. Examples include 'i believe trying and put effort on improving situation' (missing articles and incorrect verb form) and 'its depend on consistency' (subject-verb agreement error). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of commas and capitalization. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar and sentence construction limits the score in this criterion.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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