Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-01

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)

It is often said that, accept a bad situation or try to improve such situation is a debated issue these days. While some people believe that its is best to accept a bad situation. I firmly believe that always try to improve such situations. This essay will critically examines the issue before reaching the balanced conclusion.

Firstly, one main idea is to accept bad situation because of financial stability. This is largely attributes to the fact that they have to support the family and household expenses so, they didn't afford the unemployment. They accept the low-paying jobs and don't want to take risks because of the lack of opportunities in developed countries. For example, a person who need to support the family or their own expense always accept low-paying jobs just because of the fear of unemployment. Most of the people also accept unsatisfactory jobs because they want to take experience in their field.

Secondly, another main idea is that always try to improve such situations.From a broader perspective, this may give rise to significant development in skills, personality and life-style. People always try to learn new skills and improve own personality so they are suitable for highly-paid jobs and get many opportunities in the field. By this, they can improve their life-style, earn more money and become financial stable. People also try to develop their own business. For example, a personal who have a lot of skills and developed personality that are required in companies easily get a position that are highly paid.

In conclusion, I believe that always work hard to improve bad situations. Therfore, adopting this approach appears both useful and beneficial in long run.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both views and state your position clearly: you explain why people may accept low-paid work for financial security, then argue that improving skills can lead to better-paid jobs and opportunities. These points are relevant to the question, and the examples about supporting a family and gaining experience help illustrate the first view. However, the two sides are not developed equally: the reasons for accepting a bad situation are clearer than the discussion of when or how people can realistically improve one. The examples in the second body paragraph are also quite general. To strengthen the response, explain the trade-offs behind each view and add a specific, developed example. Your conclusion restates your opinion, but could briefly reflect the discussion of both perspectives.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Sequencing phrases such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “In conclusion” make the progression easy to follow. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and some links between ideas are unclear. For instance, “Most of the people also accept unsatisfactory jobs because they want to take experience” introduces a related reason without explaining how it connects to financial stability. The repeated use of “people” and “accept” also makes the paragraphs feel less connected and varied. Use linking expressions to show cause, contrast, or consequence, and make references more precise so readers can follow how each example supports the main point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “financial stability,” “low-paying jobs,” “unemployment,” “opportunities,” and “develop their own business.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and phrases such as “significant development” show an attempt to use more formal language. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, which limits precision: “take experience” would be more naturally expressed as “gain experience,” while “become financial stable” needs a different word form and phrasing. “Life-style” is also less natural here than “standard of living.” Aim to use fewer repeated general terms and check that formal expressions fit their context. More precise vocabulary would make the argument clearer and more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “a person who need to support the family” and a cause-and-effect construction beginning “because.” The overall meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors occur across the response. For example, “its is best” has an incorrect pronoun form, “This essay will critically examines” uses the wrong verb form after “will,” and “a person who need” has subject–verb disagreement. Articles and sentence boundaries also need attention, as in “accept bad situation” and the comma splice in “so, they didn't afford the unemployment.” Practise checking verb forms, agreement, articles, and punctuation, especially when combining clauses. Greater accuracy in these areas would make your varied sentence attempts easier to read.

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