Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-22
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
It is very common for people to change both their habits and their opinions as they get older.
Do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.0)
In general. it is really difficult to change a person's habit. As we have seen older people get habituate with their environment, things and routines. Their body and brain has been wired in the pattern, the way they are doing chores since early ages.
As people get older they follow similar routine on daily basis that makes the habit and causes the brain to learn one pattern. Any change in the learned pattern causes distruption and mood swings come up. As habits are the behaviour patterns that develops with ages and we all know that behaviours patterns are hard to break. For example, there was an old man in my neighbour he used to sit in street and smoke sometimes he pewk there. Almost every pedasterian found it hard to deal with him. They tell him to stop smoking, and sitting in street for the bettement of his health.
People gets older , they gain some life experiences but the nature and behavior remains same. People try explore the world, socialize and find some tough
persnalties to deal with. Somehow, their bad experiences make them stubborn.
People ages with grace and intelligence but emotional intelligence is the main factor that should be improved. The traumas,bad experiences or bad behaviours we absorb from our society should not reflect in our personality.For Instance, if a person used to have many friends, with passage of time they get busy in their own life so he could have felt loneliness and abondenment. This reason made him harder in his opinions.
In conclusion, I disagree with the statement that people changes their habits and their opinions when they get older. It is harder for a person to change their bed, favourite clothes, comfortable shoes or opinion they have made.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by clearly taking a position against the idea that people change their habits and opinions as they age. The student attempts to support this viewpoint with reasons and examples, such as the routine nature of older individuals and an anecdote about a neighbor who smoked. However, the development of ideas tends to be repetitive and somewhat tangential, particularly in the third paragraph where the focus shifts toward emotional intelligence and personal trauma without fully connecting it back to the core debate on changing habits and opinions. Furthermore, the reasoning is somewhat generalised and lacks deep elaboration. Therefore, the response fulfills the basic requirements of the task with limited idea extension, placing it at Band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay displays some overall organisation with a clear introduction and conclusion stating the writer's position. However, the logical progression is frequently disrupted by abrupt shifts in topic and weak transitions between sentences. For example, moving from the neighbour anecdote directly into a discussion on emotional intelligence lacks a cohesive bridge. Paragraphing is attempted, but paragraph boundaries do not always align with logical units of thought, and referencing is occasionally unclear (e.g., dangling pronouns like 'they' and 'he'). Cohesive devices are either missing or used mechanically, leading to a choppy flow throughout the response. This reflects the characteristics of Band 5.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is generally basic and repetitive, with noticeable errors in word choice, form, and collocation. Examples include 'get habituate' instead of 'habituate' or 'accustomed', 'pedasterian' instead of 'pedestrian', 'bettement' instead of 'betterment', and 'abondenment' instead of 'abandonment'. While the student attempts some less common phrasing like 'stubborn' and 'emotional intelligence', the recurring lexical errors and limited range mean the response does not reliably meet the criteria for Band 6. The lexical shortcomings occasionally cause slight strain for the reader, fitting firmly into Band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but attempts at complex structures are frequently marred by grammatical errors. Examples of structural and agreement errors include 'In general. it is' (punctuation), 'Their body and brain has been wired' (subject-verb agreement), 'People gets older' (verb form), and 'people changes' (subject-verb agreement). Punctuation is also erratic, with missing commas and incorrect full stops used mid-sentence. Although the meaning is generally retrievable despite the frequent errors, the lack of secure control over basic and complex grammar structures limits the score to Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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