Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-07

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In some countries, it can be very difficult for people over the age of 50 to get good jobs, despite their experience.

What do you think are the causes of this problem, and what measures could be taken to solve it?

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, people over the age of 50 find it difficult to obtain good employment, even though they often considerable good experience and valuable skills. This problem is mainly caused by elder age and rapid changes in the workplace. I think government and employers can take several measure to improve the situation.

On the one hand, one major reason older people and workers struggle to find suitable jobs is age discrimination. Some employers believe that younger employers are more energetic, adaptable and willing to able lower salaries. As a result, older applicants may be rejected even they are greater qualification. beside now days development become more increasing, many jobs require worker to use new software and digital systems so, older people are not able these developments and skills.

On the other hand, several measure could be taken to address to issue. First, government authorities should be taken laws that prevent employers from discriminating against workers because of their age. Whereas government should provide free or affordable training because older people develop new skills and idea and abilities their are increasingly demand in modern life.

In conclusion, the difficulty faced by over the age of 50 is largely the result of age discrimination and a lack of up to date skills.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt—causes and solutions—but the development is insufficient due to the word count being significantly below the 250-word minimum. While the ideas regarding age discrimination and technological shifts are relevant, they are not fully extended or supported with specific examples or evidence. The conclusion is also very brief. To reach a higher band, you must expand on your points with concrete examples or hypothetical scenarios to meet the length requirement and provide a more thorough exploration of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for causes and solutions, and a conclusion. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate, such as the awkward transition 'beside now days development become more increasing'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the flow between sentences is occasionally disjointed. To improve, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear, unified focus that transitions smoothly into the next.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. There are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'considerable good experience' instead of 'considerable experience' and 'greater qualification' instead of 'better qualifications'. Additionally, 'development become more increasing' is not a natural collocation. To improve, focus on learning common collocations and using more precise academic vocabulary to express your ideas more fluently.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'government and employers can take several measure' (should be plural 'measures'), 'willing to able lower salaries' (should be 'willing to accept'), and 'older people are not able these developments' (missing a preposition like 'to keep up with'). Punctuation is also inconsistent. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement, correct preposition usage, and ensuring that complex sentence structures are grammatically sound.

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.