Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-28

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)

I believe people have become weak at accepting faliures, because then they do not learn from it and do not even try to make things better, they have learnt to adjust with failures.

People who lack motivation and do not have a goal oriented life may have these problems, where in they have accepted the worst case scenarios and do not make efforts to imrove their condition. For example, an employee works at a firm where in he is not satisfied with the post he has been and also he does not get enough salary. But yet he does not make any efforts for getting a promotion or talk to higher authorities to make necessary changes, the reason being responsible for this situation is stability. He thinks that the job provides him with stability and if he retaliates or gives his opinions about it he might lose his job.

I think that one should have that motivation from within, to always push themselves to do better. People who are goal driven, who have dreams to achieve great things in future have that hunger for success. This goal driven behaviour often helps them with achieving all the success they have dreamt of. Apart from that one should also not be greedy and choose ethically wrong ways to climb up the stairs of success. Being satified with our own achievments and still having the attitude of doing better in life is what makes a man successful.

To conclude I would say that people should be goal driven and not settle for less.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You give a clear preference for trying to improve one’s circumstances, especially in the opening and conclusion, and the example of an employee who fears losing a stable job is relevant. However, the task asks you to discuss both views, and acceptance of a bad situation is not explained as a potentially reasonable choice; instead, it is mainly presented as weakness or lack of motivation. Your discussion of improvement is also broad, with claims about goal-driven people and success that are not supported by a specific example. To develop the response, explain why someone might accept a situation—for instance, limited alternatives or family responsibilities—then weigh that against the benefits and risks of taking action.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an opening, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the employee example gives the first body paragraph a central focus. However, progression between the task’s two views is not fully clear: the first paragraph describes acceptance, but does not explain its merits, while the next shifts to motivation and success without a clear comparison. Linking phrases such as “Apart from that” and “To conclude” help signal movement, but some connections are mechanical or imprecise. The opening is also a long sentence joining several ideas, which makes the argument harder to follow. Organise the body around one view per paragraph, then explicitly compare them before stating your judgement.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “motivation,” “stability,” “promotion,” and “ethically wrong ways,” and the meaning is generally understandable. There is some attempt to express abstract ideas, such as “hunger for success,” but several phrases are awkward or imprecise: “adjust with failures,” “goal oriented life,” and “climb up the stairs of success.” Spelling errors, including “faliures,” “imrove,” “satified,” and “achievments,” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more natural collocations and check spelling carefully. A wider, more precise set of expressions for acceptance and improvement would help you explain both sides without repeatedly relying on “success,” “goal,” and “better.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a conditional structure in “if he retaliates … he might lose his job,” and the main ideas can usually be understood. However, complex sentences are not consistently controlled. The opening joins several clauses with commas, creating a run-on sentence, and “People who lack motivation … may have these problems, where in they have accepted…” has an unclear relative construction. There are also errors in agreement and sentence structure, as in “one should … push themselves,” and the employee example shifts between “an employee” and “he” without consistently controlled phrasing. Use shorter, complete sentences where needed, and check clause boundaries, pronoun agreement and punctuation when combining ideas.

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