Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-23
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)
Despite rapidly progressing in the field of their career, some people still argue that it is best to accept a bad situation, such as financial issues or a disappointing job. However, others believe that it is better to make a greater efforts and improve such situations. From my perspective, I agree to an extent with the stance of accepting difficult times with a big heart but I strongly believe that people should try to improve their conditions by making more continuous efforts.
On one hand, the major factor that influences the people to favour this point of view of accepting bad conditions can be beneficial in reducing the number of mental illnesses associated with the financial issues. In addition it can do so by making a person aware from his reality and assist him to be protected from worse situations which could ultimately lead to various mental disorders. This is evidenced by developing countries that have reduced stress rates significantly by applying this narrative.
On the other hand, some people support the idea of doing more and putting greater efforts to improve their situations. They can get positve outcomes by investing more time in transforming their bad conditions. A clear illustration of this is provided by various businessmen who have become successful in improving their standards by doing hard work continuously. I believe that a person should accept his present conditions to understand about his capacity and should always try to get good opportunities because I strongly agree to the saying," if water strikes stones regularly, it will break them soon one day."
To conclude as per thinking of some people accepting hard times can be beneficial for a person in terms of reducing anxiety. However, others beleive that a person should try for his betterment. I personally agree to an extent with both point of view but i strongly suggest that a person should put more efforts for improving his considitons in future.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views on how to handle difficult life situations and clearly stating the writer's own opinion. The position is maintained throughout the essay. The ideas presented, such as the mental health benefits of acceptance versus the tangible outcomes of hard work, are relevant and extended. For instance, the discussion on developing countries reducing stress rates provides a specific argument, although some supporting examples remain slightly generalized. The writer adequately covers all requirements of the task prompt, positioning this response comfortably within the Band 6.5 to 7.0 range.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay displays a clear overall progression with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs addressing each view, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed to connect ideas, such as "On one hand", "In addition", and "On the other hand". However, some cohesive referencing is slightly repetitive or mechanically deployed, such as recurring transitional phrases. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different viewpoints, but the overall flow could be enhanced with more sophisticated transitional links between sentences. The structure is coherent overall, fulfilling the criteria for a Band 6.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as "unsatisfactory job", "mental illnesses", and "transforming their bad conditions". However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, such as "greater efforts" instead of "greater effort", "aware from his reality" instead of "aware of his reality", and "positve" (spelling error). While communication is never impeded, these inaccuracies and occasional spelling slips restrict the lexical score to a Band 6.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as "influences the people to favour this point of view of accepting bad conditions can be beneficial", which creates a grammatical mismatch. Punctuation errors, such as missing capitalization in "i strongly suggest", also appear. Nevertheless, the meaning remains clear throughout, and the frequency of errors does not impede overall comprehension, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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