Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-04

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 may argue that accepting a bad situation is the best way to deal with it, while others argue that try to overcome or try to improve the situation is the best way to deal with it. In my opinion i think that not giving up and try to improve the bad situation is the best way to overcome it.

Nowadays bad situations are more common than the past. Therefore people should ready to face it. However some people do not have enough confidence to overcome those situations. As a result they think that accepting a such situation is more beneficial than overcoming it. They think that try to overcoming such a situation can worsen the difficult situation. For instance, try to avoid unsatisfactory job condition, people may resign from the jobs. After that they may imagine unemployment can be happen and thinks that having a unfavourable job is more valuble than unemployment.

However some argue thath it is worthy to try and improve difficult situations. One of the main reasons why people prefer to overcome such situations is that it can be a lesson for the future. This is because avoiding challenging situations cannot be a solution for all the kinds situations. Some times people have to certainly overcome those. Therefore once they try to overcome it, It builds confidence of people mind. For example, Difficult conditions like shortage of money always not avoidable. Income is neccesary for life existence.Threfore once overcoming it can be a future lesson.

In conclusion, although some people believe that accepting a difficult conditions is the best way to deal with it, I believe that trying to over come such situations can bring numerous benefits.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both views and state a clear preference for trying to improve difficult circumstances, particularly in the introduction and conclusion. The example of someone staying in an unsatisfactory job because of the risk of unemployment is relevant and helps explain why acceptance may seem safer. However, the discussion is only partly developed: the reasons for accepting a bad situation are mostly presented as a lack of confidence or fear of making things worse, while the benefits of taking action are asserted rather than explained in detail. The example about a shortage of money is also unclear and does not show a specific way someone could improve their circumstances. Develop each view with a fuller explanation and a concrete example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Linking expressions such as “However,” “As a result,” and “For instance” help signal relationships between ideas. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow because several points are repeated or connected loosely. For example, the paragraph supporting improvement moves from learning a lesson to unavoidable challenges and then to confidence without clearly showing how these ideas build on one another. Some references, such as “it” and “those situations,” are also unclear. Organise each body paragraph around one main reason, explain it step by step, and use more precise references to make the argument easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “unsatisfactory job,” “unemployment,” “challenging situations,” and “confidence.” These choices show an attempt to discuss the issue beyond very basic terms. However, the range is limited and several phrases are repeated, especially “bad situation,” “overcome,” and “try to improve.” There are also noticeable word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems, such as “a such situation,” “job condition,” “valuble,” and “neccesary,” which sometimes make the meaning less clear or natural. Build a wider set of accurate expressions for discussing risk, financial hardship, and taking action, and check spelling and common word combinations carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “while,” “because,” and “although,” and the overall meaning can usually be understood. However, the range of structures is limited, and errors occur frequently in both simple and more complex sentences. Examples include “others argue that try to overcome,” “people should ready to face it,” and “they may imagine unemployment can be happen.” There are also problems with articles, agreement, verb forms, and sentence boundaries, as in “a unfavourable job” and “Income is neccesary for life existence.” These errors sometimes make the reader pause to interpret your meaning. Practise accurate basic sentence patterns first, then build complex sentences while checking verb forms, articles, and agreement.

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.