Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-12

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)

In recent years, whether a person should accept bad situations have emerged as a subject of considerable debate. Some maintain that, people should accept bad situations and move forward, while others argue that it is better to have a never give up attitude, which will help to improve situations like, unsatisfactory job, shortage of money and other life problems. In this essay, both views will be discussed.

First of all, accepting bad situations helps to learn more lessons in life. A person should always deal with these situations more patiently, because these conditions are not permanent. Furthermore, It encourages individuals to become disciplined and motivates them to achieve their desired goal in the future. In contrast, if a person looses their job, they should accept the situation, becuase it will give them temporary peace of mind, they will not suffer from bad mental and physical health, but not accepting bad situations, may create negative environment around family.

On the other hand, It is essential to always try and improve such situations because it will help to develop more skills. The person will become more adaptable to face challenges in life. It will improve their productivity and efficiency. For example, if a person looses their job, individuals can try to learn more technological skills, so that they can have more career opportunities in future and it will help them to achieve their end goal in life. Moreover, It will make a person more confident and adventorous.

In my opinion, Individuals should become more persistent, and learn to tackle situations and find effective ways to overcome these situations.

lose job, accept, peace of mind. mental and physical health.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both views and give a clear preference for trying to overcome difficulties, particularly in the final paragraph. The examples about losing a job and learning technological skills are relevant to the topic. However, the discussion is only partly developed: the benefits of acceptance are asserted rather than explained in depth, and the claim that accepting job loss protects mental and physical health is not clearly supported. Your opinion appears mainly at the end, so the reader gets little explanation of why persistence is preferable overall. Develop each side with a specific reason and example, then make your position clear in the introduction and reinforce it in the conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, one paragraph for each view, and a concluding opinion. Transitions such as “First of all,” “On the other hand,” and “In my opinion” help signal the main stages. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear, especially in the sentence beginning “In contrast, if a person looses their job,” where several claims are joined without showing how they relate. The introduction also promises that both views will be discussed but does not preview your position. Use clearer links between cause and result, avoid placing several ideas in one sentence, and make references such as “these situations” more specific when needed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “unsatisfactory job,” “shortage of money,” “adaptable,” “productivity,” and “career opportunities.” These choices make the subject clear, and phrases such as “temporary peace of mind” show an attempt to express a more specific idea. However, some wording is repetitive or imprecise: “bad situations” appears several times, while “never give up attitude” and “end goal in life” are less natural in this context. Spelling errors such as “looses,” “becuase,” and “adventorous” also reduce accuracy. Build a wider set of precise expressions for hardship and improvement, and check spelling and collocations during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a relative clause in “a never give up attitude, which will help to improve situations” and a conditional example beginning “if a person looses their job.” However, control is uneven, and several sentence structures are faulty or difficult to follow. For example, “whether a person should accept bad situations have emerged” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and the sentence about losing a job joins multiple clauses with commas rather than clearly structuring them. Capitalisation is also inconsistent, as in “Furthermore, It” and “On the other hand, It.” Practise agreement and punctuation, and divide long sentences into clear clauses while retaining some complex structures.

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