Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-09

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)

People often argues that we should accept our faith in bad situation, for instance if we are going through economic difficulty or not having a job. While others argues that we should try our best to get out of this bad situation and improve our life. However this essay will discuss both and will argue that we should try to improve our situations to spent quality life and be able to buy things necessary for daily use.

On the one hand, some people believe that it is good to accept a bad situation, because they do not want to struggle they are often lazy nor they say that they will be out of this situation automatically. For example, if a person is lazy and bad time comes on him, he do not want to do hard work to raise some fund for his family to fulfill their needs. He left everyting on time and thinks that bad time will be finished one day by their own. thus he spend all of his life in such a bad condition.

On the other hand, some individuals argues that we should try our best to improve such situation, because we have to give a better life to our families. We also have to eran money so we can run our kitchens expenses and provide food for our children and ourselves to eat. For instance, if a person is going through hard times but he wants to change he will start working to improve his situation.

In conclusion, although some people accept their faith, others start struggling to bring a better life for them.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both views and state a clear preference for trying to improve difficult circumstances, especially in the introduction. The examples about supporting a family and meeting everyday needs are relevant. However, the discussion is only partly developed: the view that people may accept a bad situation is mainly explained by laziness, and the claim that circumstances will improve automatically, rather than considering other reasons such as limited opportunities or acceptance of what cannot be changed. The second view is also supported by a general example without showing how effort could lead to improvement. Your conclusion repeats the contrast but does not restate your own position clearly. Develop each side with more balanced reasoning and make your opinion explicit at the end.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. The signposts “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the overall organisation. Within paragraphs, however, ideas do not always progress smoothly. For example, the first body paragraph moves from laziness to raising funds and then to waiting for bad times to end, with the links between these points not fully explained. Some connections are also mechanical, and “However” in the introduction does not clearly contrast with the preceding sentence. Use linking phrases to show precise relationships, and build each paragraph around one main idea supported by a clear explanation and example.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “economic difficulty,” “improve our life,” and “provide food for our children.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, which sometimes makes the meaning less natural. Examples include “accept our faith” where “accept our fate” is intended, “run our kitchens expenses,” and “raise some fund.” There are also spelling errors such as “everyting” and “eran.” Aim to learn common collocations for work, money, and hardship, and check spelling and word forms carefully. More precise vocabulary would help you express the two viewpoints without repeatedly relying on “bad situation” and “improve.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a conditional example beginning “if a person is going through hard times,” and the overall meaning is generally understandable. However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in agreement, verb forms, and sentence construction. For example, “People often argues” and “some individuals argues” need subject–verb agreement; “he do not want” should use the correct auxiliary; and “he spend all of his life” needs a matching verb form. The opening paragraph also contains a run-on structure around “they do not want to struggle.” Practise checking each sentence for a clear subject and verb, and use a wider range of accurately controlled sentence patterns.

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