Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-15
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)
There is an ongoing debate about whether accept and improve a bad situation. There are divided opinions. A group of individuals have argued that it is excellent to tolerate a bad situation, like undesirable job or lack of money; however, other are counter claimed that it is good to try and enhance such situations. Priot to my stance, both the viewpoint will be discussed in the upcoming paragrpahs with valid reasons and appropriate exmaples.
Discussing the former view, supporters believe that accept a bad situation, such as unsatisfactory job or shortage of money. In addition, accepting a difficult situation can reduce stress and provide peace of mind. They can appreciate what they already have instead of constantly comparing themselves with others. For instance, an employee might accept a low-paying job because it provides financial stability and enough time for family. As a result, their life going to relax and calm way without any hesitation. Besides this, they have to face multiple problems because of bad situation. Because their mind think that situation in repeatedly times and they don't concentrate in any work. For example, They think too much for bad situation then it's negative impact goes on office work. As a result, their office project don't complete within the time limit and boss charged up on employee.
However, proponents have their own opinion. To begin with, taking action can create better opportunity and improve quality of life. They can learn a new additional skill or gain qualification and find better job. For instance, someone with a low salary could learn computer programming to qualify for a higher-paying position. As a result, they can develop a financial management skill and build additional source of income. Moreover, start a small business in remained free time to earn more money. business may give a better opportunity to earn and make better life. As a result, they could develop a side source of income.
To sum up and offer my position, i support later view. everyone has a bad phase in the life but as i say they have to improve it to learning a skill and start a small business to gain financial condition.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
You discuss both views and make your own position clear in the conclusion: you support trying to improve a difficult situation. The examples about accepting a low-paid job for stability and learning programming to seek better work are relevant to the question. However, the two sides are not developed equally. The acceptance paragraph includes several points about stress and workplace problems, but the connection between accepting a situation and the later problems is unclear. The improvement paragraph is more focused, though the suggestions about learning skills and starting a business are asserted rather than explained in depth. To strengthen the response, explain the benefits and limitations of each view more precisely and develop each example so it directly supports your argument.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a concluding opinion. This makes the discussion easy to follow at a broad level. You also use signposts such as “However,” “For instance,” and “To sum up.” At times, though, cohesion is mechanical or the links between ideas are unclear. In the first body paragraph, the shift from reduced stress to problems concentrating at work is not explained, and repeated “As a result” phrases make the progression feel formulaic. Some references, such as “they” and “such situations,” do not always identify their subject precisely. Use fewer formulaic transitions and connect each supporting point explicitly to the paragraph’s main idea.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “financial stability,” “quality of life,” “qualification,” and “higher-paying position.” There are also attempts at less common phrasing, such as “ongoing debate” and “side source of income.” However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or repetitive, which sometimes makes the reader pause. Examples include “counter claimed,” “financial management skill” where the intended meaning seems to be earning or managing money, and “their life going to relax and calm way.” Spelling errors such as “Priot,” “paragrpahs,” and “exmaples” also reduce accuracy. Build a bank of natural collocations for employment and financial circumstances, and check spelling and word forms during revision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “because,” “such as,” and “instead of,” and the overall meaning is generally recoverable. However, control is inconsistent, particularly in sentence structure, verb forms, and agreement. For example, “There is an ongoing debate about whether accept and improve a bad situation” needs a grammatical construction such as “whether people should accept or try to improve a bad situation.” In “their life going to relax,” the verb phrase is incomplete, while “their mind think” and “project don't complete” show agreement and auxiliary problems. Capitalisation and punctuation are also uneven, as in “business may give” and “i support.” Practise accurate sentence patterns and proofread each sentence for a subject, a correctly formed verb, and consistent punctuation.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.