Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-02

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)

Bad situations can happen in every one's life. Many people argue that it is normal and that they should accept it and let it not effect our lives. While others say that in that scenario people should try to improve their situations. I agree with the latter view and believe that we should work hard for a change.

Life has it's ups and downs and people can be unsatisfied or irritated by their life due to various reasons like poverty or a bad job. People believe that the bad time will pass and we should not let it effect us and the best thing we can do at that moment is to accept it. For example, people might struggle with a bad jop experience but that can shape the person to be reselience and stronger. However, I believe that it is not neccessary to go through that if you can work hard to change your situations.

On the other hand, many people think that if people try to improve, they can get themselves out of difficult situations. For example, instead of surenderingif they can try surtain steps and measure and try their best to get out of that situation like they can do more jobs so that they get out of poverty or they can work harder for a bonus or promotion.

In conclusion, I believe that both views are correct on their own but just being a little braver and stronger we can get ourself out of difficult situations. So it is important never to give up and keep working and trying hard.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on how to handle difficult situations and providing a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and uneven. For instance, while the concept of acceptance building resilience is briefly mentioned ('shape the person to be reselience and stronger'), it is underdeveloped and relies on generalization rather than deep exploration. Similarly, the arguments for improving situations are somewhat repetitive, leaning heavily on working harder or getting another job without fully extending the broader philosophical implications of each stance. The position is clear throughout, but the depth of support places the response at this level, as some ideas remain generalized rather than thoroughly reasoned.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing both perspectives, and a concluding summary. Information and ideas are generally sequenced logically, moving from the definition of the issue to the first view, the second view, and finally the conclusion. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. For example, transitional phrases like 'While others say' and 'On the other hand' are used, but referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the ambiguous pronoun use in 'let it not effect our lives'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to structure the text into logical blocks, but the internal transitions between sentences could flow more smoothly to achieve a higher level of progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, demonstrating a minimally sufficient range to communicate basic ideas about difficult life situations. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'resilience', 'poverty', and 'promotion', but these attempts are frequently accompanied by inaccuracies in word form, spelling, and word choice. Examples include spelling errors like 'reselience' and 'neccessary', and lexical slips such as 'effect' instead of 'affect', 'bad jop experience', and 'surenderingif'. Furthermore, there are awkward collocations like 'try surtain steps and measure'. These noticeable errors occur throughout the text and restrict the lexical score, though communication is generally maintained.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures such as conditional and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'instead of surenderingif they can try surtain steps...'). However, attempts at complex sentences are often faulty, and there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation. Issues include subject-verb agreement and pronoun confusion ('Life has it's ups and downs', 'let ourself out'), incorrect prepositions, and structural run-on sentences in the body paragraphs. While these errors do not completely obscure the core meaning, their frequency and the limitations in grammatical control prevent the response from achieving a higher band.

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