Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-25

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 5.5)

Nowadays, it is very common for individuals to shift both their habits and their ideas as they get mature. I totally agree with this statement. I will discuss this essay.

On the one hand, people grow older, their responsibilities and priorities change. Younger people come to home late and they eat junk food as well as they spent lot of time entertainment themselves. Adult age persons must do job or business, because they have several duties, for example, they buy grocery, vegetables, and daily routine things, and they have kids so, pay schools and tuitions fees, as well as they pay house and car EMIs also, along with they worry about their parents’ health care. Hence mature persons early wake up in the morning every day. They eat health food because it helps their health and maintain body. They go to gym. These types of habits develop.

On the other hand, people change their view because increase their knowledge and experience. Youths have limited knowledge and experience, so they have limited views. Mature people have lot of experiences and also face different situations in life. Therefore, they can not change their old mentality. For instance, younger people believe that Money is the most important thing in life, but grow age they can understand, it is also important family value, health and peace. Some people core value, like honesty, kindness and hard work, this same whole life, that means growing age with do not change their opinion.

In conclusion, as growing older have change responsibilities and priorities and also experience. So, it is natural some change their opinion and habits. Some basic value remains unchanged their lives.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The candidate addresses all parts of the task by expressing a clear position that they agree people change habits and opinions as they age, supporting this with relevant ideas. The response includes examples such as shifting from junk food and late nights in youth to family responsibilities and health consciousness in adulthood. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed and rely on generalisations rather than fully extended discussion. For instance, the transition in viewpoints regarding money, family values, and core traits is stated rather than deeply explored. Nevertheless, the main prompt is covered adequately, placing the response securely within the Band 6 descriptor range for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, using standard signposts like 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion'. Progression is generally logical, moving from habits to opinions. However, cohesion is at times faulty and mechanical. Reference words and logical connectors are occasionally misused or omitted, as seen in awkward transitions like 'because increase their knowledge' and 'along with they worry'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate main ideas, but referencing within sentences can be unclear. This demonstrates the characteristics of Band 6, where cohesion is present but frequently flawed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'responsibilities', 'priorities', 'mentality', and 'core value'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and word formation, such as 'get mature' instead of 'grow older', 'health food' instead of 'healthy food', and 'grow age' instead of 'advancing age'. Despite these lexical errors and awkward phrasings, communication is not impeded, and the range is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, which aligns closely with Band 6 standards.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though attempts at complex structures frequently contain grammatical errors. Examples of errors include missing auxiliary verbs, incorrect prepositions, and awkward clause structures, such as 'Younger people come to home late and they eat junk food as well as they spent lot of time entertainment themselves', 'Adult age persons must do job', and 'as growing older have change responsibilities'. Punctuation is basic and tense consistency is occasionally compromised. While these errors occur frequently throughout the response, they rarely impede overall communication, fitting the profile of Band 5.5 to Band 6 grammar.

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