Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-26

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)

There is a widespread belief that it is best to accept a bad situation such as an unsatisfactory job or shortage of money because they have fear of more downfall.On other hand it is widely believed that it is better to work hard towards improvement of such situations and i completely agree with this because hard times can be tackled by working harder.

On one hand it is often argued that it is best to accept bad situations because they have fear of more downfall. This is because they dont have enough self confidence to take risk or accept change. They fear that they will face more difficulties if they tried to impove the situation. For example if a person has a business loss then he may be scared to invest further by taking loans due to the failures in past. As a result many people believe it is best to accept the situation.

On other hand it is widely believed that it is better to make efforts and improve bad situations because bad situations can be improved by hard work. This is because individuals who have self confidence and can take a risk may achieve their target. For example if a keeps trying to achieve the goals then he may find a number of methods , structures from which he can make improvents which lead to better situations.

To conclude, some individuals believe that it is best to accept bad sitautions because they have inner fear of futher failures. On other hand some argue that it is good to improve such situations and i completely agree with this because making efforts can lead to improvements

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both views and state a clear opinion in the introduction (“I completely agree” that people should work towards improvement), then return to it in the conclusion. The examples are relevant: the business owner who fears taking another loan illustrates why some accept a difficult situation, while the second paragraph presents effort and confidence as reasons to seek change. However, the second view is less fully developed: “a person keeps trying” is vague, and the example does not show clearly what practical improvement might result. The explanation of acceptance also focuses mainly on fear, leaving other possible reasons unexplored. Develop each side with a more specific explanation and example, and make the conclusion add a concise final insight rather than mainly repeat the introduction.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. The signposts “On one hand” and “On other hand” help readers follow the discussion, and examples are placed with the relevant arguments. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical, with repeated patterns such as “This is because” and “As a result.” Some references are unclear, particularly “they” in the opening, where it is not immediately clear who is afraid. The second example also moves from trying to achieve goals to finding “methods, structures” without explaining the connection. Use clearer referencing and link each example explicitly to the point it supports; vary transitions so the argument develops more naturally.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “self confidence,” “take risk,” “business loss,” and “improve bad situations.” The meaning is generally understandable, but the range is limited and several phrases are repeated, especially “bad situations,” “improve,” and “hard work.” Some word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unclear, such as “more downfall,” “make efforts,” and “methods, structures.” Spelling errors—including “impove,” “improvents,” “sitautions,” and “futher”—also reduce accuracy. Build a broader set of precise expressions for financial difficulty, risk, and taking action, and check spelling carefully. More natural collocations would make the argument clearer and more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including conditional structures such as “if a person has a business loss then he may be scared to invest further.” This helps express causes and possible outcomes. However, control is inconsistent, and errors in sentence boundaries, articles, agreement, and punctuation sometimes make the writing harder to read. For example, “if a keeps trying” is missing a subject, while “On other hand” lacks an article; the opening also runs sentences together after “downfall.” Capitalisation of “i” is inconsistent. Practise accurate conditional sentences and review articles and sentence punctuation. Breaking longer ideas into complete sentences, then checking each for a clear subject and verb, would improve reliability.

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