Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-22

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 often agree that it's better to accept a worse circumstance, such as unsatisfactory job or limited amount of money, While others might argue that it is better to try and improve such scenario. I'm of the the opinion that it is better to try and improve such situations.

Firstly before getting into a bad situation, some people might have tried all of their possible best to get the best out of that scenario, they could have given it a lot of effort, spent a lot of time, and a lot of resources, before calling it quit. Some people also believe that it will always get better no matter how bad it gets, so why not just accept and move on. One might not also have the drive of motivation to continue trying, as they might eventually give up maybe because of the time, money and effort that has been spent during all of the process, lets take for an instance someone has been trying to get an admission into the university, he tried writing the exams up to ten times, but he eventually ends up failing, because of lack of money, wasted time and effort he decided to stop and just accept the situation that he can't further his education as this is taking a mental toll on him.

While some might believe that you should always try to improve such situations which i agree, i mean there is always going to be a greater harm if you don't try to improve whatever bad situation you find yourself in , you might end up not acheiving your goals, fulfilling your dreams or getting that dream job and you start to regret. At least when you try you already know that you gave it your all and there is no form of regret, if it works out, fine if it doesn't no problem. Also when you try to improve bad situations you are also motivating someone to do better for themselves. For example, a student have been trying to apply for scholarship, he tried for 5 good years , some of his friends already started doing something else for themselves, but because he is a goal oriented person he continues to strive hard, and eventually got a fully funded schorlarship which he was able to take his family along with him, imagine if he wasn't persistent, he wouldn't have gotten the schorlarship.

In conclusion, some people might have their reasons for accepting a bad situation, because of various reasons such as not liking their job or shortage of money, while other people will always try to make things better for themselves always.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on accepting or trying to improve difficult situations and provides a clear personal opinion. The writer's position is maintained throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas tends to be somewhat repetitive and relies heavily on single extended narrative examples within paragraphs rather than fully exploring different facets of the arguments. For instance, the discussion on why people accept bad situations moves quickly from exhaustion to a specific example of university admission failures. Similarly, the second body paragraph blends the fear of regret with an anecdote about a scholarship. While the task is adequately addressed, the support lacks the depth and extension required for a higher band, placing this performance solidly at Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement and a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Progression is visible, moving from the introduction of both views to arguments for acceptance, then arguments for improvement, and finally a summary. However, cohesion within sentences is sometimes faulty or mechanical. The writing relies heavily on comma splices and run-on sentences rather than effective subordination or full stops. For example, sentences like "While some might believe that you should always try to improve such situations which i agree, i mean there is always going to be a greater harm..." string multiple clauses together awkwardly. Paragraphing is used to separate ideas, but internal cohesion could be significantly enhanced through better punctuation and transitional markers.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating everyday concepts and opinions related to jobs, money, and personal drive. Words and phrases such as "circumstance," "goal oriented person," and "persistent" show an attempt to use appropriate language. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, spelling, and collocation. For instance, the writer uses "worse circumstance" instead of "worse circumstances" or "difficult situation," misspells "acheiving" and "schorlarship," and uses informal conversational fillers like "i mean" and "fine if it doesn't no problem." These lexical limitations and occasional errors prevent the vocabulary from reaching a higher band level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an ability to construct multi-clause sentences. However, grammatical accuracy is weak due to frequent punctuation errors, specifically comma splices and run-on sentences. For example, the sentence "Firstly before getting into a bad situation, some people might have tried all of their possible best... before calling it quit" strings together multiple clauses with commas and contains minor errors like "calling it quit" instead of "calling it quits." Capitalization is also occasionally overlooked, such as with the pronoun "i." While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur with high frequency throughout the essay, demonstrating less control than is required for a Band 6.

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