Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-11-11
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Some people believe that it is best to accept a bad situation, such as an unsatisfactory job or shortage of money. Others argue that it is better to try and improve such situations.
Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
Some people think that it is best to accept a bad situation such as financial crises and dissatisfied work while others believe that it is better to try and make improvements in such periods. This essay will examine both the arguements and gives the explanation on it.
Some people think that the scarsity and unwanted job should be acceptable in any situation as they believe sometimes it's okay to deal with the hard times because it somewhere they don't want to take any risks in their lives by leaving their jobs rather try finding new opportunities. This is how they are stuck in such situations which makes hard for them to face another challlenges. For example, if a person is selling coffee on a cart, somewhere he fails to ever think about opening his own cafe.
However, others believe that people should always try to improve their living standards and better to try options to sort out the things because staying in the same scenarios will cause more hardships in their lives and eventually the shortage of money will be common for them. Although, accepting money problems and undesireable work life, they still be lacking growth and development in their lifestyles.
In conclusion, it is argued that people should accept that bad situations such as financial shortages and unwanted jobs whereas other think that they should better try improving the things but i believe that despite of living in poor conditions, they should think wisely and use smart ways to make money to make their lives more comfortable and easy to live.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
You address both views and give your own opinion, so the response is relevant to the task. The first body paragraph explains why people may stay in an unsatisfactory job: they avoid risk and may not seek new opportunities. The coffee-cart example helps illustrate this view, although its connection to accepting financial hardship could be explained more clearly. The second view is mentioned, but its reasons are repeated rather than developed with a specific explanation or example. Your opinion appears mainly in the conclusion, where you recommend using “smart ways” to improve life, but this position would be clearer if stated in the introduction and supported throughout. Develop each side more fully and explain how your proposed approach would work.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Transitions such as “However” and “In conclusion” help signal the direction of the discussion. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear: the first body paragraph moves from avoiding risk to being “stuck” and then to the coffee-cart example without fully connecting these points. The second paragraph repeats the idea that staying in the same situation causes hardship, and “Although” introduces a clause that is not completed as expected. The conclusion also restates the opposing views before presenting your opinion. Use clearer links between claims and examples, and make each paragraph develop one central point in a logical sequence.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “financial crises,” “risks,” “opportunities,” and “growth and development.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems make parts of the response difficult to interpret. For example, “scarsity” is misspelled, “dissatisfied work” is not a natural way to describe an unsatisfactory job, and “sort out the things” is vague. “Undesireable work life” also does not express the idea naturally. Aim for precise, conventional phrases and check spelling carefully. Replacing general wording with terms such as “financial hardship” and “career prospects” would make your discussion clearer and more appropriate for an academic essay.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a conditional example beginning “if a person is selling coffee on a cart” and a contrast introduced by “Although.” However, complex structures are often faulty, and errors in verb forms, sentence construction, agreement, and punctuation sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. For instance, “This essay will examine both the arguements and gives the explanation” shifts verb form, while “they still be lacking growth” has an incorrect verb construction. The sentence beginning “Although, accepting money problems…” is incomplete, and the final sentence is difficult to follow because several ideas are joined together. Practise building complete sentences with one clear main clause, then check verb forms and punctuation.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.