Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-13
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)
Few amount of people stays in the way that it is best to just accept a bad situation in life, such as shortage of money. The Other people completely believe in the opposite, and argue that is better to try and improve the situtations. In this essay, I will discuss both of these ways, and will give the facts why the second opinion is better.
Firstly, just accept the situtation without any attempts to correct something, is the easiest way to run out of the problems. Just running without any attempts, and regrets starts becoming the habit, and over the time people becomes lazy without any purposes on life, believing that their problems dissapear without their actions. That Laziness is just killing the motivation in humans to make their lifes better.
On the other hand, people who tries to improve the situtation does not matter how hard is it, becomes strong, and that motivation and convinction to overcome raise the personality in them. For example, many popular athletes in different categories of sport had faced significant amount of bad situtation in their life. Lionel Messi was born in Argentina, and grew up in a working type of family without any richness and opportunitess, but over the time he overcome the problems and find his own path in football.
Overall, In my opinion, it is better to try something even if it do not work, than accept the situtation and being still without any worries, believe that someone other will solve your problems.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both views—accepting a bad situation versus trying to improve it—and states a clear personal opinion. Ideas are generally relevant, though the development tends to be somewhat repetitive and lacks depth. For instance, the discussion on why accepting a bad situation is harmful relies on generalisations about laziness rather than exploring nuanced socio-economic factors. Similarly, the example of Lionel Messi is relevant, but the explanation lacks sufficient elaboration to fully support the argument. The position is maintained throughout the essay, but the overall development fits the Band 5.5 to 6.0 profile, where ideas are present and the task is addressed, but support remains limited and under-developed in places.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay has a basic organisational structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'Firstly' and 'On the other hand', but referencing and logical progression are occasionally faulty. For example, the sentence 'Just running without any attempts, and regrets starts becoming the habit' lacks clear referents and grammatical connection to the surrounding ideas. Paragraphing is attempted, though the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical and repetitive. While the overall arrangement is coherent enough to follow the writer's line of thought, the frequent disruptions in cohesion place this text securely in the Band 5.0 range.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary range is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The student attempts some less common expressions, such as 'working type of family' and 'convinction to overcome', but these are often marked by awkward collocation or word choice. There are several noticeable vocabulary errors, including 'dissapear' (disappear), 'lifes' (lives), and 'situtation' instead of 'situations'. Phrases like 'Few amount of people stays' demonstrate a fundamental lack of control over quantifier-noun agreement and collocations. These errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a vocabulary profile typical of a Band 5.0 performance.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar and punctuation is weak. Frequent errors are present throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('Few amount of people stays', 'people becomes lazy', 'problems dissapear') and awkward phrasing ('if it do not work, than accept the situtation and being still'). Complex structures are often faulty, and punctuation errors are noticeable, such as comma splices and incorrect capitalization ('The Other people'). These frequent errors can cause difficulty for the reader and prevent the response from reaching Band 6.0, aligning it with Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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