Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-19

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)

There is no denying the fact that films and cinemas are a popular form of entertainment. It is commonly believed that individuals without any talent are popular, while talented people are often unappreciated. In my opinion, I consider that many different reasons explain why a talented person in art, acting, and literature undervalued by the public.

To begin with, platforms like YouTube and TikTok allow any person to create different videos to act or sing freely without any restrictions. In other words, they will gain widespread popularity, and their videos will spread rapidly on social media. In addition, the number of followers increases dramatically, so creators earn an enormous amount of money. For example, a lot of YouTubers earn millions of dollars from comedic videos on YouTube.

Another point to consider is that many talented individuals are introverted. As a result, they may find that communicating with others makes them uncomfortable. It is possible to say that an untalented person with good communication skills be more successful than an unfriendly talented person, especially in artistic fields such as arts. Moreover, developing artistic skills requires a large amount of money. For example, many students in schools create incredible paintings but they cannot pay for a tutor to develop their skills.

In conclusion, I believe that gifted people are undervalued due to the reasons discussed above. At the same time, people who lack talent in arts, music, and acting become very famous in their countries.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing why individuals with no genuine talent can become rich and famous, presenting a clear personal position. However, there are two main issues. First, the student fails to meet the minimum word count requirement, clocking in at 243 words instead of 250, which requires a downward adjustment in task achievement. Second, while the prompt asks whether you agree or disagree with the phenomenon, the student's position is somewhat descriptive rather than fully evaluative, focusing more on explaining *why* talented people are undervalued rather than taking a definitive stance on the premise itself. Ideas are introduced and supported with examples like YouTube and TikTok, but the development remains somewhat superficial and ideas are slightly under-developed, particularly regarding financial barriers to developing artistic skills.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as the impact of social media platforms in the second paragraph and the traits of introversion alongside financial constraints in the third paragraph. Cohesive devices are employed adequately using phrases like 'To begin with', 'In addition', and 'Another point to consider'. However, referencing and transitions are at times slightly mechanical. For instance, the transition into the discussion of financial barriers within the third paragraph feels a bit abrupt and tacked onto a discussion about introversion, which slightly disrupts the logical progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating topic-related terms such as 'widespread popularity', 'comedic videos', 'introverted', and 'artistic fields'. There are some attempts to use less common vocabulary, but word choice is occasionally imprecise or slightly unnatural, such as writing 'an untalented person with good communication skills be more successful', where the modal verb is missing. Another example is 'art in art, acting, and literature undervalued by the public', which contains a grammatical slip affecting vocabulary flow. Spelling is generally accurate throughout the response, and communication is never impeded by lexical inadequacies, fitting the criteria for Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses introduced by 'platforms like' and 'as a result'. There are, however, several noticeable grammatical errors. For instance, the sentence 'I consider that many different reasons explain why a talented person in art, acting, and literature undervalued by the public' misses a verb ('is undervalued'). Furthermore, the sentence 'It is possible to say that an untalented person with good communication skills be more successful' lacks the necessary modal 'would' or 'will'. While these errors do not impede overall comprehension, their frequency across the short text prevents the essay from reaching a higher band for grammatical accuracy.

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

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