Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

It has been witnessed that the older a person becomes, their behaivior and point of veiw differs from what they used to believe when they were young. This essay will be focusing on how friends and the life experiences can change a human being.

It is important to look at how a friend play's an important role for an individual for the overall development of daily habits and the way of looking at certain situations or things. Firstly, when someone starts spending time with a person with some sort of habits or opinion, he starts to adapt them especially the good ones. Over the course of time, it kind of changes the way a person used to think or used to perform some actions.

Secondly, life teaches everyone a lot of lessons due to which, perspectives changes and we adapt to different things. For an example, if a person goes through some tragedy, as a result of which his way of thinking changes and he also can develop some bad habits like smoking. However,if he has assosiated himself with good people, it might not affect him negatively.

In conclusion, I do believe that time changes people's behavior, but it is in our hands for it to impact an individual p

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address the topic by explaining that friends and life experiences can influence people’s habits and perspectives, and your conclusion indicates agreement that people change over time. However, the position is not fully clear: the opening describes change, while the conclusion says “it is in our hands for it to impact an individual,” which leaves the extent of your agreement uncertain. The ideas are relevant but remain general and are not supported with a specific personal or real-world example. The tragedy-and-smoking example is brief, and the role of friends is asserted rather than illustrated. The response is also 40 words below the required minimum, limiting the space available to develop your reasons. State your position directly and extend each reason with a concrete example and explanation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, two body paragraphs signposted with “Firstly” and “Secondly,” and a conclusion. This makes the main line of discussion easy to follow. Some connections, however, feel mechanical, and the relationship between ideas is not always clear. For example, the sentence about a tragedy, smoking, and the influence of good people introduces several points without explaining how they connect. The conclusion also ends abruptly, so it does not fully bring the discussion together. Use linking phrases to show cause and contrast more precisely, and make sure each paragraph develops one main idea in a logical sequence. A complete conclusion that restates your view would strengthen the overall progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “perspectives,” “development,” “tragedy,” and “adapt,” and the reader can generally understand your meaning. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “the way of looking at certain situations,” “adapt them,” and “impact an individual.” Spelling errors such as “behaivior,” “veiw,” and “assosiated” are noticeable and reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise expressions, for example, “viewpoint,” “influence someone’s habits,” and “affect a person.” Proofread spelling carefully and choose collocations that express your intended meaning naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional example beginning “if a person goes through some tragedy” and a clause introduced by “However.” Meaning is usually recoverable, but some errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and punctuation remain. For instance, “a friend play’s” should be “a friend plays,” “perspectives changes” should be “perspectives change,” and “For an example” should be “For example.” The opening construction, “the older a person becomes, their behaviour…,” also lacks a clear grammatical comparison. There are some run-on or awkwardly joined clauses, particularly in the tragedy example. Practise checking subject–verb agreement and sentence boundaries, while retaining your attempts at complex structures.

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