Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-17

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)

In this contemporary society, it is quite ubiquitous for people to change both their habits and their perspectives as they get older. I strongly agree with this statement and my justifications will be explicated in the upcoming paragraphs along with relevant examples.

The first and foremost reason regarding my agreement is that people change their habit and opinions due to work circumstances. To elucidate, during their teenage, if individual sleeps late at night, however, nowadays an individual is waking up early in the morning due to their work schedule is about 7:00 am. To exemplify, my uncle used to eat a dinner at night around 8 pm but due to his office timing, dinner habit change and now he is eating around 9 pm.

The other paramount reason is that some people change their habits and opinions due to their personal traumas. To elaborate, an individual was very friendly during their school time but one friend broke their trust so they unable to make a bond with new people as they become older. They become very quite person and always have a trust issue. For instance, my old friend was very careless about their own work and he does not want to work in his father's company. However, he lose his father and now he is taking care of the company and work very properly.

To recapitulate, I majorly agree with the statement because some work situations and personal traumas can change person's opinions and habits as these are the common things.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear from the introduction (“I strongly agree”) and conclusion, and you give two relevant reasons: work circumstances and personal experiences or trauma. The examples about your uncle’s dinner time and your friend taking responsibility for his father’s company help connect the ideas to real situations. However, the explanation of how these examples show changes in both habits and opinions is uneven; the first example mainly illustrates a change in routine, while the second focuses on responsibility. The response also contains 243 words, so it is 7 words below the required minimum; the 9 words copied from the prompt are not counted. Develop each example more fully and make the link to the question explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting separate reasons, and a concluding summary. Signposting such as “The first and foremost reason,” “The other paramount reason,” and “To recapitulate” makes the progression easy to follow. However, these transitions are somewhat formulaic, and some connections within sentences are unclear. For example, the sentence beginning “during their teenage” shifts awkwardly from a general situation to “nowadays,” while “For instance” introduces an example that does not clearly illustrate the preceding point about trust after trauma. Use more direct links between each reason and its example, and organise the explanation so the reader can follow how each experience changes a habit or opinion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary and attempt more formal expressions, including “ubiquitous,” “perspectives,” “circumstances,” and “personal traumas.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and the topic-related vocabulary is generally understandable. However, some less common expressions are not used naturally: “my justifications will be explicated” sounds overly formal, and “a trust issue” is less precise than the intended idea of difficulty trusting others. There are also word-choice and word-form problems, such as “quite person” and “a dinner.” Aim for natural collocations and precise phrasing rather than choosing formal words simply to sound academic. This would make your vocabulary more fluent and accurate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “because” and “however,” and your overall meaning is usually understandable. However, errors in sentence construction and verb forms recur. For example, “during their teenage, if individual sleeps late … however, nowadays an individual is waking up early” combines clauses awkwardly and shifts tense; “they unable to make a bond” is missing a verb; and “he lose his father” uses the wrong verb form. Articles and agreement also need attention, as in “change person's opinions” and “they become very quite person.” Practise building complete sentences with consistent subjects and tenses, and check articles, verb forms, and agreement before submitting.

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