Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-01

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)

There are different type of people in this contemporary world some take risk for their betterment. While others just accept it as their fate and don't do anything. In this essay I will discuss both sides and present my perspective.

Firstly, the people who tend to accept unsatisfactory job as their fate and don't look out for other opportunities are those who are not really into struggling for anything. They are more likely to stay at one place rather than searching for new opportunities. They are afraid that they may lose the job they already have. this laziness in their behavior causes them to be stuck at one place even if they are not satisfied by their job. Which causes unwanted stress. For example, any student with low grades should mot accept it as their fate but he should work hard.

Secondly, some adults keep chasing newer and newer opportunities in their life which feels even a little better than the early one. Such mates choose their dreams and are not afraid of any consequences of their decisions. They take risk an get better job than before which satisfies their mood. They don't accept shortage of money as their fate they blame themselves and than start to work even harder to achieve their goals. For example, any teacher should not stop spending time on student thinking he is not any good rather he should take different approach as anyone who wants to can improve.

Ultimately, after reviewing both the side I believe that accepting any bad situation is not always the best solution. We should definitely look for better opportunities which can improve our life drastically.

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 regarding those who accept their situation is framed as 'laziness,' which is a subjective over-generalisation rather than a balanced discussion of why some might choose stability over risk. The examples provided, such as the student with low grades or the teacher, are slightly tangential and do not fully illustrate the broader socio-economic or psychological reasons behind the two perspectives. To reach a higher band, you should provide more nuanced reasoning and ensure examples directly support the prompt's focus on career and financial situations.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate. For example, the transition 'Which causes unwanted stress' is a sentence fragment, and the use of 'than' instead of 'then' in the second body paragraph disrupts the flow. While there is a logical progression from the introduction to the conclusion, the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words beyond simple 'Firstly' and 'Secondly' to better connect the ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. You rely on basic phrasing such as 'different type of people' and 'stay at one place.' There are also some collocation errors, such as 'satisfies their mood' (should be 'satisfies their ambitions' or 'improves their job satisfaction') and 'take risk an get' (spelling error). To improve, focus on using more sophisticated collocations and topic-specific vocabulary related to career development and financial management, while ensuring that words are used in their correct context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'There are different type of people'), missing articles, and punctuation errors, such as the sentence fragment starting with 'Which causes...'. Additionally, there are spelling errors like 'mot' instead of 'not' and 'an' instead of 'and'. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. You should focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and sentence completeness.

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

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