Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-08

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)

Failure is the best teacher to teach any thing. People give response as per situation either it may be positive or negative. Some people argue that some time bad circumstance accept it for peace of mind, while other believe that people should put their efforts to improve such type of these situation.

To begin with, sometime accepting an unfavourable environment, it is a pragmatic decision. If people suffer from an unsatisfactory job, but their family depend on them. In spite of, doing job, people leaves from job, it may give several financial consequences. Furthermore, lack of experience, company gives less money, but accepting these situation and control expenses rather than leaving job. Accepting unfavourable situation, it helps to reduce stress and think what do in future. For example, leaving job without any back-up or no other income source, it gives negative results. But continues working job and gain new skill which help to enhance money.

On the other hand, most of people believe to improve such type of situation by putting efforts or try another way rather than accepting it. An unsatisfactory job limited professional growth and also build unsatisfaction with their job, which leads to demotivation. People should gain new experiences or skills that help to improve such type of bad financial situation. For instance, nowadays growing online learning professional skills help to get high paid job Therefore, taking some action can beneficial for future.

In conclusion, although acceptance should be temporary rather than permanent. It gives peace of mind and take some time what can do now. However, I strongly believe that put efforts to improve bad circumstance because this can provide satisfaction and financial security.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both views and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the argument for accepting a bad situation is supported by the example of financial consequences, but the explanation is slightly repetitive and lacks depth. The second body paragraph touches on online learning, which is a relevant point, but the connection between 'taking action' and 'financial security' could be more explicitly linked to the prompt's focus on 'improving' situations. The position is consistent, but the overall depth of analysis is more characteristic of a Band 6.0 response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into clear paragraphs, and there is a logical progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'On the other hand'. However, some transitions are mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'In spite of, doing job, people leaves from job'. Additionally, the referencing is occasionally unclear, and the flow between sentences is sometimes hindered by grammatical errors. While the structure is coherent, the use of cohesive devices is not always flexible or natural enough to reach a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for a higher score. There is some repetition of phrases like 'bad situation' and 'improve such type of these situation'. While the student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary (e.g., 'pragmatic decision', 'financial consequences', 'professional growth'), there are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'continues working job' instead of 'continuing to work in a job'. These errors do not impede communication, but they limit the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Examples include 'Failure is the best teacher to teach any thing' (awkward phrasing), 'some time bad circumstance accept it' (missing subject/verb agreement), and 'it gives negative results' (incorrect pronoun usage). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are issues with sentence fragments and missing articles. While the meaning is usually clear, the frequency of errors is high enough to prevent the response from reaching a Band 7.0.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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