Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-08-06

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In some countries today, there is an attitude that 'anyone can do it' in the arts - music, literature, acting, art, etc. As a result, people with no talent become rich and famous and genuine talent is not valued or appreciated.

Do you agree or disagree?

You should use your own ideas, knowledge and experience and support your arguments with examples and relevant evidence.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In some countries there is a perception that everyone can be good at fields like arts-music . As a result people with genuine talent are left behind and people with no talent become rich .

In this era people with connections and a huge social media audience outperform people who are rich in talent. If a person has no talent but still has a connection that can help him display his painting in the national exhibition, he can outperform the candidate with more talent . Moreover, as an actor candidates get a place in the film or drama based on their beauty and skin tone even though he lacks good acting skills but he will still be preferred over any other candidate . This is a common practice in the film industry of Pakistan.

On the other hand, there are shows like Americas got talent or others in which people rich in talent can get a part. Compete with others candidates on merit and get short listed. From there top directors and artists pickup candidates as well. On line platforms like Pinterest also provide an opportunity to display and showcase ones drawings and art pieces. Furthermore, writers with good scripts are not entertained by publishers as they have no famous books or novels published before or they do not have connections in the field.

In conclusion I agree with the fact that the real talent is left unseen due to lack of financial resources and that people with no talent but strong financial position take over other candidates .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position, although the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. You provide relevant examples, such as the film industry in Pakistan and platforms like Pinterest, which helps support your argument. However, the essay could be improved by exploring the 'anyone can do it' attitude more deeply rather than focusing primarily on nepotism and social media. The conclusion is a bit abrupt and simply restates your position without synthesising the main points effectively. To reach a higher band, ensure that each paragraph fully develops its central argument with more nuanced analysis rather than just listing examples.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'On the other hand', and 'Furthermore' to link your points. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical, and the transitions between sentences within paragraphs could be smoother. Additionally, the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where the pronoun 'he' is used to refer to a generic 'candidate', which creates slight confusion. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring clear pronoun reference would enhance the flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'outperform', 'merit', and 'short listed'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are instances of imprecise word choice, such as 'rich in talent' (a more natural collocation would be 'highly talented') and 'entertained by publishers' (which is slightly awkward in this context). There are also some minor spelling and punctuation errors, such as 'Americas got talent' and 'On line'. To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations and topic-specific vocabulary related to the arts and professional industries.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with article usage (e.g., 'in film industry'), subject-verb agreement, and missing punctuation. For instance, 'as an actor candidates get a place' is grammatically disjointed. There are also issues with sentence fragments and run-on sentences. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and ensuring consistent subject-verb agreement will significantly improve your writing.

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

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