Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-18

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)

It is often argued by some people that it is best to accept a bad situation. Meanwhile, others believe that it is better to face the situation and try to improve it. I believe that we should try to face any difficult situation with confidence and try to solve these problems with patience.

On the one hand, supporters of the idea that it is better to accept a bad situation believes that when you can accept this problem you should not feels stress and feel relax. As you can accept any problem you feels relax and feels safe. Take an example of Nepal, a hospital survey in The Nepal shows that 20% people are sufered from metal disorder which takes work stress. Thus, the supporters of support their opinion with valid reasons.

While on the other hand, advocates of the view that you should try to improve any bad situation, believes that we should try to improve this situation rather than fust waiting. As if people can work hard to handle any bad situation, they can solve any problem in their life. For instance, American president said that any we have any problem we should solve this rather than waiting to slve this problem by others. This argument also carry a lot of weightage.

However, in my opinion, we should face any problem with patience and work hard to solve this problem. As by working hard people can achieve anything that they want.

To sum up, although accept bad situation have valid reasons, I believe that we should try to improve the situation rather than just facing it.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on how to handle difficult situations and providing a clear personal opinion throughout the essay. The introduction clearly outlines the two perspectives and your own stance, which is then revisited in the body paragraphs and conclusion. However, the ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed, relying on generic reasoning and weak examples rather than deep elaboration. For instance, the reference to Nepal lacks specific context, and the citation of an American president is overly vague ("American president said that any we have any problem we should solve this"). To reach a higher band, you need to extend your arguments with more plausible, well-explained examples and fully explore the implications of accepting versus trying to improve a bad situation.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a recognisable introduction, two body paragraphs discussing opposing views, a counter-balancing opinion paragraph, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. However, cohesion is often faulty or mechanical. You rely heavily on transitional phrases like "On the one hand", "While on the other hand", and "To sum up", but intra-sentential cohesion and referencing are sometimes unclear or repetitive (for example, repeating phrases like "accept a bad situation" and "try to improve this situation"). Logical progression is occasionally disrupted by awkward phrasing and abrupt transitions between sentences, meaning the flow of ideas is not entirely smooth throughout.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing you to communicate your main points, but the range is limited and repetitive. You frequently reuse basic words and phrases such as "situation", "problem", "solve", and "improve" rather than employing a wider variety of synonyms. There are also notable lexical errors and unnatural word choices throughout the text, such as "feels stress and feel relax" (instead of feeling relaxed or stress-free), "fust waiting" (instead of just waiting), and "weightage" (which is less natural in this context than "weight"). While these errors do not severely impede overall communication, they demonstrate a lack of precision and flexibility that prevents the essay from reaching a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing subordinating conjunctions like "although" and conditional-like structures ("when you can accept this problem you should not feels stress"). However, control over grammar is inconsistent, and there are frequent errors in verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and articles. Examples include "20% people are sufered" (instead of suffer), "takes work stress" (instead of stem from work stress), "advocates... believes" (plural subject with singular verb), and spelling mistakes like "sufered" and "slve". Complex structures often contain errors that cause some difficulty for the reader and obscure precise meaning. To improve, you need to focus on accurate verb tense usage and careful proofreading of complex sentences.

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

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