Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people believe that nowadays we have too many choices.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Although it is sometimes thought we have too many choices nowadays. In my opinion, I agree with this statement that individuals have too much options in this growing age.

Firstly, having too many choices can make decision-making difficult and time consuming, they often spend so much time on comparing and getting them. They cannot decide that which thing is most suitable with related to their personality and modern trends. Moreover, in different situations people have different attitudes. For example, if a person go for shopping a shirt, and he has too many options, having different styles with different brands, he will be confused and worrying bout making decision. This is not good thing. I believe that having many choices is not a good practice.

Secondly, having an excessive amount of options may cause stress and dissatisfaction, people may constantly wonder about their choice, weather they make decision. Furthermore, they may feel restless after making the right the decision,when they have more options. Some may make wrong decisions and after few months, they realise that they were wrong, For instance, a student want to choose a good field for better career opportunities, but he has too many options ahead, he will be confused and sometimes make wrong decision. This is a main drawback of having too much choices.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that we have too many options nowadays. In this competitive era, everyone wants to influence others that is not good behaviour. Having too many options is distraction from making the right decision.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that we have too many choices nowadays, supporting the view with relevant, albeit limited, ideas. However, some parts of the task are only partially developed. For instance, the first body paragraph mentions that decision-making is time-consuming and that people struggle to align choices with their personalities, but these ideas remain underdeveloped and lack specific, fully realized supporting evidence. The examples provided, such as shopping for a shirt or choosing a career path, illustrate the main points generally, but the reasoning tends to repeat core concepts rather than extending them. To reach a higher level, the writer would need to fully develop every idea with extended explanations and deeper exploration of the consequences of having excessive choices, ensuring the position is maintained with comprehensive supporting arguments throughout the entire essay.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays some overall organization with a recognizable introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion, and uses basic paragraphing. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression, and the logical flow between sentences and ideas can feel disjointed. Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes mechanical or inadequate, such as repetitive transitions like 'Firstly,' 'Moreover,' and 'Secondly.' Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in the sentence starting with 'they often spend so much time,' where the antecedent for the pronoun is vague. Furthermore, repetitive phrasing throughout the paragraphs hinders smooth progression. To improve in this area, the writer should employ a wider and more natural range of cohesive ties, ensure precise pronoun referencing, and structure the progression of ideas so that each sentence logically builds upon the previous one with clear signposting.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, but the range is quite limited. The writer successfully employs some common topic-related terms like 'decision-making,' 'competitive era,' and 'career opportunities,' but also makes noticeable errors in word choice and collocation. Examples include writing 'too much options' instead of 'too many options,' and awkward phrasing such as 'most suitable with related to their personality' and 'worrying bout making decision.' There are also issues with word form, such as 'weather they make decision' instead of 'whether they made a decision.' These lexical slips and repetitive use of basic vocabulary restrict the precision of the response. To achieve a higher score, the writer needs to expand their lexical repertoire, incorporate less common vocabulary with greater accuracy regarding collocations and word forms, and pay closer attention to precise phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay relies on a limited range of grammatical structures. While the writer attempts some complex sentences, these attempts are frequently faulty, leading to structural issues. There are numerous grammatical errors throughout the text, including fragment sentences such as 'Although it is sometimes thought we have too many choices nowadays. In my opinion, I agree...' which incorrectly separates a dependent clause from its main clause. Other errors include subject-verb agreement issues like 'a person go for shopping' and 'a student want to choose,' as well as punctuation and article omissions. These frequent errors can cause some difficulty for the reader and obscure the intended meaning. To progress, the writer must improve their control over basic grammar rules, correctly form subordinate and complex sentences without structural breaks, and ensure proper agreement and verb tenses throughout.

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