Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-12
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 5.0)
Some people believe that it is best to accept a bad situation, such as unwanted job and the shortage of the money in contrast other people state that these situations can be improved.
Firstly, the people who believes that bad situation should be accepted, these people do not have too much expectations and they do not have big goals of the life and they do not dream some big therefore they just try to accept the situation and the they think that this is only the perception of the life as if any person who do not like to take any kind of the risk in the life then he will be satisfy with job and spend his whole life on the same 9 to 5 routine.
Secondly, the people who do not have growth mindset they want to live the life on same routine and the same salary will follow in their whole life these people do not like to work in some productive activities and they do not have enough courage to start own business for example if we offer the amount of the banana and huge amount of money to the monkey then it will immediately accept the dose of banana because he do not know the amount of money can offer more banana.
On the other hand, the people who do not like a same kind of routine and want to live the life according to their own decisions, they like to take the risk and they do not feel any kind of fear of failure. They learn from their mistakes and they believe that these downs are the part of the life and ups will also come therefore they take the risk and they start their own business. Business offer freedom of time but job does not.
In conclusions people accept bad conditions and try to live in that kind of the conditions while some try to improve them personally, the people who try to improve their life and do not give up they achieve great success in the life.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on accepting versus improving a bad situation and provides the writer's own opinion, particularly in the conclusion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the first body paragraph argues that people accept bad situations because they lack expectations or goals, but this point is reiterated in different ways without deep extension. The example involving the monkey in the third paragraph is somewhat unusual and tangential rather than fully supportive of the human context, reflecting a tendency towards under-developed arguments. Position and ideas are generally clear throughout, but the reasoning needs more sophisticated elaboration to reach higher bands. Consequently, this performance aligns closely with the Band 6 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with clear attempts to sequence ideas using transitional markers such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'On the other hand'. However, cohesion is often mechanical and faulty. For example, sentences are frequently run-on and linked with excessive coordinating conjunctions like 'and' without proper punctuation or subdivision, such as in the second paragraph ('these people do not have too much expectations and they do not have big goals of the life and they do not dream some big therefore they just try...'). Paragraphing is attempted, but internal logical progression is occasionally hindered by confusing referencing and punctuation errors. These issues place the response firmly at Band 5.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating everyday concepts related to jobs, money, and routines. However, there are frequent inappropriate word choices and collocations, such as 'unwanted job', 'shortage of the money', 'big goals of the life', and 'dose of banana'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but lexical control is lacking, with frequent reliance on basic and repetitive terminology. Although the writer attempts some less common phrasing like 'growth mindset' and 'freedom of time', inaccuracies in word formation and collocation prevent the text from achieving a higher band score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay displays a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, but grammatical accuracy is a notable weakness. The text suffers from heavy run-on sentences, comma splices, and a lack of proper punctuation. For instance, sentences are strung together with multiple clauses lacking appropriate subordination or full stops. There are also frequent errors with articles ('the shortage of the money', 'the life') and subject-verb agreement ('the people who believes', 'monkey... because he do not know'). While communication is not entirely impeded, the high frequency of basic grammatical errors means the writing does not consistently demonstrate good control of complex structures, fitting the Band 5 descriptor well.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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