Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-25

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)

nowadays, it can be very challenging for individuals over the age of 50 to get good job opportunities regardless of their experience and this problem has become a growin concern in many parts of the world, this essay will descuss the main problems associated with this issue and suggest some possible solutions.

one of the main problems is that old people are more exposed to age discrimination and this will make it difficult for them to be taken seriously, for example people who are in charge for recuitment process they mention an age limite most of the time on their advertisment of jobs applications this is because they most likely believe that the older the persson the less efficiency he will be, as a result old people will be wronged and injustly treated and maybe even loss the ability to earn a living

there are several ways to address this problem. firstly, government should give directions to the companies to start anti discrimination legislation and stop hiring preferences this will help the older people to get equal employments opportunities, secondly individuals could benifite from retraining programmes to enhance their outdated skills under the supervision of experienced employees in order to gain professional experiences

and get some digital literacy.

in conclusion, deprive older people from employment opportunities can lead to serious negative consequences since they are a part of the society. however this issue can be solved by continuosly working on the previous proposed solutions and patienlty monitoring the results to eventually achieve the desired outcome.

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 parts of the prompt: age discrimination is presented as a cause, while anti-discrimination rules and retraining are offered as measures. The recruitment-advert example helps explain the cause, but the claim that employers assume older people are less efficient is not explored further. The proposed solutions also need more explanation—for instance, how legislation would be enforced or what kinds of retraining would improve job prospects. Your conclusion restates the general direction but does not add much support. The response is 247 words, so it falls three words short of the 250-word minimum; the eight words copied from the prompt are excluded from the count. Develop the ideas with specific explanation and examples to address the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, a paragraph on the cause, a paragraph on solutions, and a conclusion. Sequencing is generally understandable, and signposts such as “for example,” “firstly,” and “secondly” help identify the stages of the argument. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow because several points are joined into long, loosely connected sentences. The solutions paragraph, for example, moves from government action to retraining without explaining the relationship between them. Some linking is mechanical, and the conclusion repeats the proposed solutions rather than drawing the argument together. Use clearer sentence boundaries and develop each main point in a more deliberate sequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “age discrimination,” “recruitment process,” “anti discrimination legislation,” “retraining programmes,” and “digital literacy.” These choices show an attempt to discuss employment policy and skills development. However, the range is limited in places, and frequent spelling errors or imprecise expressions make the writing less clear, such as “growin concern,” “age limite,” and “wronged and injustly treated.” Some combinations are also unnatural, including “get equal employments opportunities” and “gain professional experiences.” Aim for accurate spelling and more natural collocations, and vary repeated general terms such as “old people” with respectful alternatives like “older workers” or “older applicants.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a cause-and-effect structure beginning “this is because” and a purpose clause with “in order to.” However, control is inconsistent, and errors in sentence boundaries, agreement, articles, and verb forms sometimes make the reader work to understand the meaning. The opening is a run-on sentence, while “government should give directions” and “deprive older people from employment opportunities can lead” show problems with articles or sentence construction. Punctuation and capitalisation are also unreliable, particularly at the start of paragraphs and after full stops. Practise building shorter, accurate sentences first, then add subordinate clauses while checking subject–verb agreement and punctuation.

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