Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-27

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)

Some people believe that it is bestto accept a bad situation, such as an unsatisfactory job or shortage of money. But others think that people should try and improve their circumstances. In my opinion, although accepting bad situation sometimes is better for people, they should improve their attitude and develop their skills. People can also learn from their mistakes and work hard try again.

On the one hand, accepting a bad situation can sometimes be benefical. This is because every problems can not be easily solve. People should not take stress for it and search solution. For example, people may face financial difficulties because of rising prices or lack of job opportunities. In such cases, accepting reality can help them remain calm and peace. Some people lose their courage in such situation and they always get into trouble.

On the other hand, I believe that trying and improve a difficult situation is important. If people accept every problems without taking action, they can never alter their circumstances. However, people should improve their attitude and always ready to face challanges, they should learn from their mistakes and try again get opportunities. For instance, a person who is unhappy from his job, he can learn new skills or gain further qualifications to find better job opportunities. Similarly, a person who is experience about financial difficulties, he can improve his budgeting skills or search to addition sources for money.

In my opinion, facing challanges can help individuals develop skills such as problem-solving and making-decision. Instead of giving up, we should find solution and alter our circumstance.

In the conclusion, although accepting difficult situation can provide peace of mind but i believe that people should trying and improve certain circumstances. This approach is best to learn our mistakes and develop our skills, it's also best way to move forward.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both views and give a clear overall opinion: accepting hardship may bring calm, but people should generally take steps to improve their circumstances. The examples about financial pressure, learning new skills, and budgeting are relevant to the question. However, the two sides are not developed equally. The reasons for acceptance are mostly stated generally, while the improvement side has more explanation and examples. Your opening also introduces improving one’s attitude and learning from mistakes, but these points could be connected more explicitly to the discussion. To strengthen the response, explain when acceptance is sensible—for example, when a problem cannot be changed immediately—and distinguish this from giving up on longer-term improvement. (The response meets the task’s length requirement; 13 words copied from the prompt were not counted.)

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, your opinion, and a conclusion. Linking phrases such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “For instance” help readers follow the main direction. However, progression is sometimes weakened by repeated points: learning from mistakes and improving circumstances appear in both the introduction and later paragraphs without much added development. Some connections are also unclear, as in “accepting reality can help them remain calm and peace,” where the relationship between the example and the claim needs clearer expression. The final opinion paragraph partly repeats the previous paragraph. Group related ideas more tightly and use references and transitions to show how each example supports the argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to discuss work and financial hardship, including “financial difficulties,” “job opportunities,” “qualifications,” and “budgeting skills.” These choices make the main ideas understandable, and you attempt some less common expressions such as “problem-solving.” However, word choice, collocation, and spelling errors are noticeable and sometimes make the reader pause: “benefical,” “face challanges,” “search to addition sources,” and “unhappy from his job” are not natural or accurate forms. Repetition of “situation,” “improve,” and “people” also limits flexibility. Build a bank of accurate collocations for discussing hardship and change, and check spelling and word forms carefully. More precise alternatives would make your examples sound clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a concession in “although accepting bad situation sometimes is better for people” and conditional structures such as “If people accept every problems…”. This shows an effort to vary sentence forms, but control is inconsistent. Errors in articles, agreement, verb forms, and sentence construction occur in examples such as “every problems can not be easily solve,” “a person who is unhappy from his job, he can learn,” and “people should trying and improve.” Some sentences also join clauses awkwardly, particularly “they should improve their attitude and always ready to face…”. Practise building accurate sentences with although, if, and who clauses, and check that each clause has a correctly formed verb. Clearer punctuation and sentence boundaries will also help.

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