Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-28

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 quite an interesting topic. There are around 8 billion people in the world, everyone has their own thinking and mindset. Of all these people some accept a job where they are not satisfied but they do it anyway while others who are open to challenges and more determined do not accept such situations. There are people who are affluent and there are people who are homeless and have nothing; to some it is a dilemma and some see an opportunity during their worst times. I'll discuss both these circumstances and conclude it at the end.

We are surrounded by people of all these including us everyone thinks differntly and have their own point of view about a certain situation and their jobs. For instance let us take an example of a worker who works a 9 to 5 desk job, even though it earns him enough money to make ends meet and pay the bills but the work environment is toxic and is taking a toll on him affecting his mental health which is of the utmost importance to anyone and he thinks that this job is all he got he is worried about loss of job due to recession or layoffs hence he works more than he is capable of but the environmnet doesn't support him going forward there's no future, the workplace does not allow people from within the organization to progress and still he keeps working just for the sake of paying bills time goes by and such people remain in their place for the rest of their remaining professional life. If they have no money the'll stretch their needs, deprive themselves of a good meal or a nice gadget and accept this as their fate, blame it on their luch, be ungrateful and envy those who has it all.

On the other hand, we have all came across people who despite being in a miserable situation like a toxic workplace they continue to do their job because they are determined that they can change their lives, they can improve their livelihood and hold a dignified place in the society by being visionary and chasing their dreams. These people refuse to give up, they don't know the word impossible and they hold themselves accountable for whatever happens in their lives. Such poeple are determined, disciplined and painstaking professionals, be as it may, that they are stuck in a 9 to 5 corporate drudgery they refuse to accept it as their fate and continue to improve their skills, they upskill, work more than one job, help themselves and stay focused on their goals.

To conclude it in a nutshell, in my personal opinion; if it is an unsatisfactory job one can try to improve their skill and get a better job, nowadays it is not hard to achieve what you want given that you have a goal. The other situation where one is short of money could also be improved all one needs is to be brave enough and motivated enough to achieve their goals

one has to have a goal, then work their way to achieve that goal come what may. Of course their are other factors involved but staying focused and determined to achive your goal can land you a better job and hence earn more money and get a better living condition. The sky is the limit if only you could imagine, a sparrow could only fly a short distance but an eagle flies beyond the peaks of mountains.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the prompt 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 extended with a lengthy example of a worker in a 9-to-5 desk job, although the argument tends to ramble and over-generalise. While the main points are present, the development is somewhat repetitive, particularly in the description of the worker's mindset and the concluding paragraphs. Despite these structural flaws, the task is sufficiently answered, earning a solid Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response shows an overall logical progression, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing each viewpoint, and finally concluding. However, paragraphing and sentence-level cohesion are major weaknesses. The second body paragraph is extremely long and forms a massive run-on sentence structure that lacks appropriate punctuation and division. Cohesive devices are frequently repetitive (e.g., 'and then', 'such people', 'these people') or absent, resulting in a mechanical flow. Referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly with pronoun usage ('she', 'he', 'they' mixing). This level of coherence management firmly places the response at Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'affluent', 'dilemma', 'toxic workplace', 'corporate drudgery', and 'upskill'. However, there are notable lexical and spelling errors that detract from the writing, such as 'differntly' instead of 'differently', 'environmnet', 'luch' instead of 'luck', and 'poeple'. Word choices are occasionally awkward or imprecise, such as 'corporate drudgery, be as it may'. Despite these flaws, communication is not impeded, and the vocabulary is minimally adequate to achieve a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar and punctuation is poor. The text is plagued by severe run-on sentences, comma splices, and a lack of full stops where thoughts should be separated (e.g., the second paragraph is essentially one massive multi-clause sentence). Grammatical errors are frequent, including tense inconsistencies and subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'everyone thinks differntly and have', 'there are other factors involved but staying focused... can land you'). While complex structures are attempted, the lack of punctuation control and frequent structural errors cause difficulty for the reader, placing this at Band 5.0.

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