Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-21

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some say that the most important thing about being rich is that one has the opportunity to help others. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Being rich is not a privilege but the result of the continuous hardwork and sweat one has put regularly over a period of time. It provides us with various opportunities to help others as well as yourself.

I wouldn't say that the most important thing about being rich is the opportunity to help others but I would say that it is not the least important. The one who has put the hardwork and sweat knows how difficult it is to earn money in this modern society and can see themselves in all the struggling people.

I believe that being rich should be more beneficial to you and your family and helping others should be a secondary priority as you and your family knows the struggle you have been through to reach there. Your family should be your number one priority. Providing them the things they desire not only makes them happy but also provides you the satisfaction that you have made it by being rich. You can buy anything without looking at the price, enjoy by going on a vacation and can live peacefully without any stress and anxiety.

After this, if you wish, you can help others by donating a certain amount of money or you can mentor others by sharing your story and the amount of struggle you went through to reach here. It motivates others to do better and achieve those things that you have achieved.

In conclusion, helping others is an option if you are rich but it only comes after you have fulfilled the wishes of you family and loved ones.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student addresses the prompt by taking a clear position, arguing that while helping others is a possible outcome of being rich, prioritizing oneself and one's family is more fundamental due to the hard work required to attain wealth. The response covers all parts of the task well, presenting a developed argument. However, some ideas feel slightly repetitive, particularly the emphasis on family priorities and the 'hard work and sweat' concept, which leans toward over-generalization. Nevertheless, the main position is sustained throughout the essay, meeting the criteria for a Band 6.5 or 7.0. Given the reasonable extension of ideas regarding personal satisfaction and mentoring, a band score of 6.5 is appropriate for fully addressing the prompt while keeping some arguments slightly under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear progression of ideas from the introduction, through the body paragraphs focusing on family priorities and subsequent charitable actions, to the conclusion. Paragraphing is used logically to separate distinct arguments. However, cohesion is at times a bit mechanical, with simple transitions like 'After this' and 'In conclusion'. Referencing is generally clear, but the links between sentences could be smoother to achieve higher bands. Overall, the organizational structure is adequate and logical, earning a solid Band 6.0 for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating ideas about wealth, struggle, and family priorities. Phrases like 'continuous hardwork and sweat', 'secondary priority', and 'peacefully without any stress and anxiety' demonstrate a functional lexical resource. However, there are some repetitive word choices, such as the repeated use of 'hardwork and sweat' and 'reach here'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited precision, and minor collocation issues appear, placing the performance securely in the Band 6.0 range where vocabulary is adequate to convey meaning despite some inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional or concessive clauses ('I wouldn't say that... but I would say that...'). There are some grammatical errors and punctuation slips present throughout the text, including missing hyphens in 'hardwork', incorrect pronoun-antecedent agreement ('you and your family knows' instead of know), and minor prepositional awkwardness. Despite these errors, the majority of simple sentences are clear, and the mistakes rarely impede communication. This balance of mixed structures and manageable errors aligns well with the descriptors for a Band 6.0 in grammatical range and accuracy.

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

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