Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-05

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)

Although some poeple belive that It is very common for some people to change their habits and their opinions when they aged, I believe when a person carries same opinion for years, it becomes his habit and not possible to change.

To begin with, some people believe that it is easy for the people to alter their likes or dislikes when they get older because they get matured with life and know what is needed or not. Moreover, people after marriage try to provide comfort to their families and often compromise with their interests. For example, a person with a short temprament changes his habit after marriage because he wants to provide a heathy environment to his children and wife. As a result, he tries to stay cool and avoids things, which raises temprament.

However, I believe that when a person carries a habit in his childhood, it becomes difficult to get rid of that in the future. This is because, people live with the same opinon for years, which becomes a part of their lives. Additionally, sometimes they get addicted to a habit and cannot like without it. For example, an alcoholic needs an alcohol everyday to calm his mind, which becomes his habit. As a result, he cannot sleep without consuming a glass of wine, and to get rid of that joins rehabilitation centres.

To conclude, although some people change their likes or dislikes with age, I believe it is not easy to discontinue a habit when people get older. A person who loves to have a morning walk continues to maintain the same habit till he gets older.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by expressing a clear position regarding whether people change habits and opinions as they get older. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and uneven, which places it at the mid-level. While the introduction outlines a stance, the reasoning regarding whether habits can be broken is occasionally repetitive. For example, the argument that an opinion becomes a habit and cannot be changed is revisited in a generalized way rather than fully extended with deep insight. Some supporting ideas are touched upon briefly, such as marriage altering temperament, but lack deeper exploration, meaning the task is addressed only partially in terms of depth.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure thoughts using standard transitional markers such as 'To begin with', 'However', and 'To conclude'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to divide introduction, body points, and conclusion. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or slightly faulty, and referencing can lack precision. For instance, the transition between discussing opinions and sliding directly into habits can feel abrupt, and the logical progression within the third paragraph stumbles slightly when connecting alcohol consumption directly to sleep routines without smoother logical bridges.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, though the range is limited. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items, such as 'rehabilitation centres' and 'temprament', but these attempts are accompanied by noticeable errors in spelling, word choice, and word form. For example, 'poeple' and 'temprament' contain spelling mistakes, and phrases like 'carries same opinion' or 'like without it' show awkward collocations. These lexical shortcomings cause occasional difficulty for the reader and prevent the response from achieving a higher rating.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The text features a limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on basic patterns alongside faulty attempts at complex sentences. There are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that can cause some difficulty for the reader, including missing articles ('an alcohol everyday', 'consumes a glass of wine'), incorrect verb forms ('when they aged', 'cannot like without it'), and prepositions inside grammatical patterns. Although the basic meaning can usually be discerned, the frequency of these structural and grammatical slips keeps the writing firmly within the mid-level criteria.

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