Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-16

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 many contries, peple over the age of 50 find it increasingly difficult to obtain good emplyment, even though they have considerable professional experience. This problem is caused by servel factor, including age discrimination and the rapid development of technology. However, goverment and employers can take serious step to handle this situation as soon as possible to reduce unemployment rates in contries. The reason along with solution will be described in the following paragraph.

To begin with, one major cause is age discrimination in the workplaces. Some employers believe that younger employees are more energetic, adaptable and willing work for lower salaries. As a result, they may prefer younger candidates even when older applicants have greate experience and knowledge. Another important factor is technological development. Many jobs now require employees who have greater knowledge and information about new technology, also willing work to use new software vary easily. Older worker who have not recevied sufficient training may therefor find it harder to compete with younger candidates who are more familiar with modern technogy. For example, an experienced accounted who has worked with traditional accounting methods may struggle to obtain a position which is relevant to modern technology.

Furthermore, serveral measure could help to address this issure. First, goverment should introduce strong laws against age-based discrimination during recruitment and emplyment. Companies could be required to evaluate applicants according to skills, qualifications and experiences rather than age. Second, emplyers and government shold provide regular training programmers for older workers to impore skills and knowledge about technology. Cources in area such as computer skill, artifictial intelligence and digital communication could help them remain competitive in the moden market jobs. For instance, a 55-year-old employee who receives training in data-analysis software could continue contributing effectively to a technology-oriented company.

In conclusion, the diffulty faced by people over 50 in finding good jobs in mainly related to age disctimination and a lack of updated technological skills. Providing high-qulification practices and accessible training opportunities would help other worker remain active.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by identifying both the causes of employment difficulties for people over 50—specifically age discrimination and rapid technological advancement—and proposing relevant measures such as legislation and targeted training programs. The writer maintains a clear position throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive in places. For instance, the discussion on technology touches upon relevant concepts like accounting software, but could be extended further to fully explore the depth of the issue. Nevertheless, the main requirements of the prompt are satisfactorily met, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate causes and measures. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader, such as 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'In conclusion'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty or mechanical, and the introduction contains an awkward transition ('The reason along with solution will be described in the following paragraph'). Logical progression is generally maintained, but the flow between sentences could be smoother at times, placing the response firmly in the Band 6 category.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'professional experience', 'age discrimination', and 'artificial intelligence'. However, there are numerous spelling errors throughout the text, including 'contries' instead of countries, 'peple', 'emplyment', 'servel', 'goverment', 'greate', 'accounted', 'serveral', 'issure', 'programmers', 'impore', 'Cources', 'moden', 'diffulty', 'disctimination', and 'qulification'. Despite these frequent spelling mistakes, the vocabulary used is sufficient to communicate the main ideas clearly, preventing the score from dropping lower.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures such as 'Some employers believe that younger employees are...' and 'Although older workers who have not received...'. There are, however, several grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'willing work' instead of 'willing to work', 'older worker' instead of 'older workers', and 'market jobs' instead of 'job market'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while errors are frequent, they rarely impede overall communication, which matches the criteria for Band 5.5.

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