Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-19

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people say that music is a good way of bringing people of different cultures and ages together. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In today's world, some people say that music is a good way of bringing people of different cultures and ages together. I partially agree with this view because it encourages younger generations to know about their culture and also allows people from different countries to gain knowledge about the culture of a particular nation, but at the same time people may disrespect the culture of any nation and younger ones are more likely to hear music that have strong bass, making them lose interest in culture music.

Firstly, music encourages younger generations to know about their culture performed by their ancestors. This is because younger ones may not be familiar with their culture and music helps to make them familiar. For example, if a child is unaware about their culture practices, music inspires them to gain knowledge about their culture. As a result, music helps younger generations to stick to their culture. Secondly, it helps people from different countries to learn about the cultural activities performed by a particular nation. If a person listens to a music that belongs to the culture of a particular nation, it may exicite them to know about the culture of that nation.

On the other hand, this view may have some disadvantages. People may disrespect the culture of a nation either intentionally or unintentionally. This is because people may be unfamiliar or misunderstand the culture of a nation through music and whenever they get a chance to perform the cultural activities, they may do in an inappropriate or insulting manner. Thus, it may result in disrespecting the culture of a nation. Additionally, younger ones are more interested in hearing the music that includes strong bass, making them lose interest in cultural music. This may allow them to ignore the cultural music and may lose interest in cultural practices too.

In conclusion, I partially agree that music is a good way of bringing people of different cultures and ages together because it allows younger ones to know about their culture and helps people from different part of the world to gain knowledge about the culture of a nation. However, people may disrespect the culture of a nation by misunderstanding it and younger generations may ignore the cultural music due to their different choice of music. I agree with this view to a great extend but at the same time people should also consider the disadvantages of it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position throughout, although the prompt asks to 'to what extent do you agree or disagree', and your introduction states 'I partially agree', which is handled well. You provide relevant ideas regarding how music bridges cultural and age divides, and counterbalance this with points about potential cultural disrespect and changing musical preferences among youth. However, some of the ideas are somewhat repetitive, particularly in the body paragraphs where points like 'losing interest in culture music' are restated. Overall, the main arguments are extended and supported, fitting well within the Band 6.5 to 7.0 descriptors. For a higher band, ideas would need to be more fully developed without relying on repetitive phrasing, such as your frequent use of 'younger ones'.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay has a clear overall arrangement with a standard four-paragraph structure comprising an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You make use of cohesive devices to guide the reader, such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion'. However, referencing and progression can occasionally feel mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent reliance on 'This is because' and 'This may allow them'. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but logical progression within paragraphs sometimes stalls due to overlapping explanations of youth preferences and cultural disconnection. Cohesion is generally clear enough to satisfy Band 6 criteria.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary range is adequate for the task. You attempt some less common vocabulary, such as 'unintentionally', 'inappropriate', and 'exicite' (though this contains a spelling error). There are several instances of imprecise word choice and slight awkwardness in collocation, such as 'culture music' instead of 'traditional music' or 'cultural music', and 'strong bass' rather than 'heavy bass'. Spelling errors like 'exicite' (excite) and minor lexical repetition also appear throughout the essay. Because your vocabulary is sufficient to communicate your ideas clearly despite these errors, this aligns with the Band 6 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures (e.g., 'If a person listens to a music that belongs to the culture...'). However, there are notable grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'listens to a music' (uncountable noun misuse) and 'music that have strong bass' (subject-verb agreement error with 'music' and 'have'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but frequent minor structural slips and recurring grammatical inaccuracies prevent the majority of sentences from being error-free. Communication is rarely impeded, placing your grammar squarely in the Band 6 range.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.