Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-19

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)

It is believed that people should accept a bad situation in a workplace, for example, an unsatisfactory job or lack of money. While other people do not agree with this opinion and they believe that people should try and better those circumstances. This essay discusses both views beacuse people cannot always control the situation and they can change their situation if they work hard on themselves.

Life can be unpredictable and lot of mishaps can happen. In some cases, people need to accept that bad situation. For example, an engineer who works on a site daily gets no promotion because of not having the managerial experience, he/she should not try to argue with the owner because fight always do not solve problems. Instead, he/she try to accept that the management is not his/her field of study.

However, people should try to change the circumstances, by working hard on themselves or by changing the workplace for their own personal growth. People join the workpalce beacuse they have to satisfy their needs such as food, water and shelter. In any case where there is unfulfilled desires and needs, employees cannot perform effectively. For instance, an engineer who want to succeed in the managerial activities he/she should take management classes or have necessary interns to have an experience in the field. So, it is responsibility if the person to think ways that he/she may be able to fulfill the desires. People need to work longer hours or shift to higher paying jobs, for their own personal growth and their needs can be fulfilled.

In colclusion, people are responsible for their own actions and I believe that people should work hard on themselves for their own personal growth rather than implying circumstances to the control over the situations.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—accepting a bad situation versus trying to improve it—and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant and supported with examples, such as the engineer who lacks managerial experience. However, some arguments lack full extension and suffer from slight over-generalisation, such as stating that 'fight always do not solve problems'. The position is maintained throughout, but the depth of idea development aligns best with the Band 6 descriptors, where relevant ideas are presented, though some remain slightly under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Progression is visible, moving from the view of acceptance to the view of self-improvement. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. However, cohesive devices are at times mechanical or faulty, as seen in the abrupt transition 'In colclusion' and repetitive referencing patterns. Furthermore, the thesis statement contains a minor spelling and phrasing error ('beacuse people cannot always control...'). Cohesion is sometimes slightly awkward, placing this text firmly at Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common items such as 'unsatisfactory job', 'personal growth', and 'unfulfilled desires and needs'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, including 'beacuse', 'workpalce', 'lot of mishaps' instead of 'a lot of mishaps', 'interns' instead of 'internships', and 'implying circumstances to the control over the situations'. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they prevent the text from reaching a higher band, making Band 6 an accurate reflection of the lexical control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and relative structures ('While other people do not agree...', 'In any case where there is unfulfilled desires...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('there is unfulfilled desires'), article omissions ('lot of mishaps'), and awkward phrasing ('responsibility if the person'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical inaccuracies occur with enough frequency to match the Band 6 descriptor, where a mix of structures is used alongside errors that rarely impede communication.

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

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