Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-11
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)
In this contemporary era, many peoples has argued it is sensible to accept a unsatisfactory job or financial situation due to current economic downturn. While critics contend that we should always try to find someway to improve the situations. Conversely, I fully agree that people should work hard for better future instead of blaming on the surrounding factors.
On one hand, there are several reasons why some individual believe that it is rational for accepting the unfortunate hardship like deficient job or financial problem. Firstly, many peoples occupations has been made redundant due to economic recessions. For example, due to recent economic downturn and AI boom, many big corporate have to start trimming down the workforces to survive the hardship. Because of the lay off, employees have looking for jobs as soon as possible to pay for their living expenses. In order to survive, they often have to work a minimum paying jobs like working in retails or fast-food chains. This often lead to unsatisfactory, while peoples start to blaming others and complaining on the social medias.
On the other hand, there exists a strong case where someone actively try to improve such difficult situation instead of accepting their own fate. Few key characteristic are resilience and bright personality. People with th
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response is significantly under the 250-word minimum requirement, which severely limits the development of your ideas. While you have identified both views and stated a position, the essay is incomplete, ending abruptly in the second body paragraph. Because the response is unfinished, the task is only partially addressed. To improve, you must ensure you complete the discussion of both views and provide a clear, well-supported conclusion. The current lack of development means the arguments remain superficial and the prompt is not fully satisfied.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay uses some cohesive devices such as 'On one hand' and 'On the other hand' to signal structure. However, the abrupt ending prevents a logical flow throughout the entire piece. Paragraphing is attempted, but the second paragraph is cut off mid-sentence, which disrupts the overall coherence. To achieve a higher band, you need to ensure that each paragraph is fully developed and that ideas are linked smoothly from start to finish, including a concluding paragraph that synthesizes your arguments.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but there are several errors in word choice and form. For example, you use 'peoples' instead of 'people', 'a unsatisfactory' instead of 'an unsatisfactory', and 'blaming on' instead of 'blaming'. These errors are noticeable and occasionally distract the reader. To improve, focus on using articles correctly and refining your collocations. While you attempt some topic-specific vocabulary like 'economic downturn' and 'redundant', the range is limited by the incomplete nature of the essay.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text that impede clarity. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('many peoples has argued'), incorrect verb forms ('employees have looking'), and article usage. You attempt some complex sentence structures, but they are often marred by errors, such as 'many big corporate have to start trimming down'. To improve, focus on basic sentence construction and proofreading for common errors like pluralization and verb tense consistency. The range of structures is limited, and the frequency of errors is high.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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