Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-30

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)

Bad days and situations are part of human life. Some people opine that it is best to accept the uncertain situations like unsatisfactory job or shortage of money. And the other group of people argues that it is better to try and improve such situations. My view along with the other two opinions are discussed in the upcoming paragraphs.

Several people are unsatisfied with their jobs and work but still continues to do so in order to earn money. Some individuals are solely working for the money while many people work for their career. And it is better to have some money in your hands rather than empty pocket. In addition to that, the life is not equal for everyone, several individuals have to work very hard and some just get everything by little to no efforts. Consequently, money is important in life so individuals should accept the substandard work that would cater the shortage of money. Following that, the unsatisfactory job is better than unemployment.

On the other hand, people who are in favor of trying and improving the situations have certain assertions: Firstly, bad days are great source of self-evaluation and it would guide the person to detect their weaknesses and start strengthening their knacks. The people who always look forward in life and never stop working on them definitely become successful. Secondly, no one is perfect, at some point of life individuals have to enhance their skills in order to keep pace with the acquired work. Hence, improvement is the key to success.

At last, according to my opinion; it is better to accept difficult times and take it as a privilege to build your knacks to come out of difficult situations. Every phase of life is vital for development. Bad situations prepare the individuals to look inwards and work on their inabilities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views—accepting difficult situations versus trying to improve them—and provides a clear personal opinion. The writer's position is maintained throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas in the body paragraphs tends to be somewhat repetitive, particularly regarding the discussion on money and work, which places the response securely at Band 6.0. While relevant ideas are presented, they are occasionally under-developed or lack sufficient elaboration, such as when claiming that 'money is important in life so individuals should accept the substandard work.' The overall stance is clear, but deeper extension of arguments would be required to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical four-paragraph structure with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For instance, transitional phrases like 'Following that' and 'At last, according to my opinion;' feel awkward and unnatural. Furthermore, referencing is not always completely clear, and the logical progression between sentences within the first body paragraph becomes slightly disjointed due to abrupt shifts between working for money versus career and societal inequality. These features align closely with the Band 6 descriptors.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'substandard', 'self-evaluation', and 'inabilities'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors that prevent a higher score, such as 'still continues to do so' (subject-verb agreement/redundancy), 'acquired work' instead of regular employment, and the repeated misuse of the word 'knacks' when referring to skills or abilities. Despite these inaccuracies, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general message clearly, placing the lexical control firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms throughout the response, such as conditional and multi-clause sentences. However, there are frequent grammatical errors in tense consistency, singular/plural agreement, and articles, such as 'uncertain situations like unsatisfactory job' (missing article), 'the life is not equal' (unnecessary article), and 'take it as a privilege' where pronoun agreement fluctuates ('it' referring to 'times'). While these errors do not impede communication, they persist across the text, preventing the response from reaching Band 7.0 where frequent error-free sentences are expected.

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

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