Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-19

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 5.0)

Many people argue that coping with the critical circumstances is best, while others believe that acceptance is best.

From my perspective, people should accept the bad times because it helps them to shape their future. Sometimes a person might not fit into a specific role given to him in a job, but coping with such situations might help you to become the best for that unsatisfctory role. For example in my last I was assigned with the office work where I have to keep the records but I did not find it appealing. Soon after, when I became experienced of many softwares like Microsoft Excel, Ms Word and Chemdraw it has helped me a lot in shaping my future as on the base of these skills i got more options in the future.

Apart from that who accept the situation they became dull and less creative. Main reason behind is that they start totally relying on it, underestimating their potential. I personally knew i friend of mine who was quite good at sports and extra curricular activities became totally dull after joining a call centre and he started totally relying on it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You give a clear personal view—accepting difficult circumstances can help shape the future—and the office-work example is relevant to this position. However, the task asks you to discuss both views, and the response mainly argues for acceptance. The opposing view is only briefly suggested in the sentence about people becoming “dull and less creative”; it is not explained as a case for actively improving a bad situation. Your examples also need clearer development and a more explicit link to the question. The response is 192 words, below the required 250, which limits how fully you can address both sides. To improve, explain why people may try to change unsatisfactory circumstances, then compare that view with your own and support each with a developed example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic sequence: an opening statement, a paragraph supporting your opinion, and a further point about the effects of accepting a situation. Connectors such as “From my perspective,” “For example,” and “Apart from that” help signal the direction of ideas. However, the overall progression is difficult to follow because the opening says both sides favour coping or acceptance, while the later discussion does not clearly establish the opposing view. The final point about your friend is not explicitly tied back to whether people should accept or improve their circumstances. Paragraphing and linking are also limited for a discussion essay. Use separate paragraphs for each view and a conclusion, with clear references that show how each example supports the argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “critical circumstances,” “unsatisfactory role,” “potential,” and “shaping their future.” These choices show an attempt to discuss work and personal development rather than relying only on very basic words. However, the range is limited, and several phrases are inaccurate or unnatural, which sometimes makes the intended meaning less clear. For instance, “coping with the critical circumstances is best” and “became experienced of many softwares” do not express the ideas naturally; “dull” is also repeated. Spelling and word-form slips such as “unsatisfctory” and “i friend” further affect accuracy. Build a wider set of precise expressions for accepting, changing, and improving difficult circumstances, and check collocations and spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a conditional idea (“Sometimes a person might not fit into a specific role…”) and a relative clause (“who was quite good at sports…”). This gives the response some structural variety, and the main message is generally understandable. However, control is uneven, particularly in longer sentences. Examples include “when I became experienced of many softwares… it has helped,” where the tense and clause structure do not fit together, and “they became dull” after “who accept,” where the verb forms are inconsistent. There are also errors in articles and sentence construction, such as “in my last I was assigned with the office work.” Practise building accurate complex sentences and check tense consistency, agreement, and sentence boundaries.

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

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