Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-22
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)
Some contend that the main objective of rich people is to accept the opportunity to serve others. I partially agree with this point of view, rich people has their own personal choice, helping others need not be first priority to them.
On the one hand, helping poor people should be one of the priority for rich people, however, it need not necessarily be the first goal. Many successful people initially think about safety and healthy environment of their family. With regards to helping others, they first satisfy the emergency needs of their relatives. For instance, my uncle who is chairman of tech company, prioritizes his lifestyle such that, he primarily fulfill the necessities of his family, be it secure future for his children or providing nutrition food. He then thinks of helping poor people and sometimes never think of any.
On the other hand, not only treating poor people with empathy but also helping them as much as possible should be potential goal for every human on the earth. Rich people and government should plan initiatives to reduce poverty in their respected countries. Let's say, If rich people all together work on one mission of completely solving poverty issue in every corner of their country, then it will create great impact thereby increasing the economy of the nation. I personally believe that, whoever get the opportunity of helping others, they only help their relatives and loved ones, it is agreeable but they should also lookout for those poor people who even lack shelter and food on regular basis.
In conclusion, helping others should be one of the intentions of rich people but not primary goal. Serving and helping poor should be the priority of everyone.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing whether helping others is the most important aspect of being wealthy, presenting a partial agreement. The position is generally clear throughout the essay, although the expression in the introduction is slightly awkward. Main ideas are presented, such as prioritizing family security before helping others and the broader social benefits of poverty reduction, but these ideas are somewhat under-developed and lack robust extension. For example, the personal anecdote about an uncle is briefly mentioned without deeper analysis. The conclusion reflects the arguments made. Overall, the response meets the criteria for a Band 6.0 as it addresses all parts of the task with relevant ideas, though some areas require more depth and clarity.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, separating the introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Logical connectors such as 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand' are utilized to structure the arguments. However, referencing and cohesive devices are occasionally faulty or mechanical. For instance, transitional phrases like 'Let's say, If rich people' feel overly conversational and disrupt the formal academic tone. Furthermore, referencing pronouns are at times ambiguous, and the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be smoother to guide the reader effortlessly through the progression of ideas. Overall, the organizational structure aligns well with a Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'prioritizes', 'necessities', and 'empathy'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as writing 'rich people has their own personal choice' instead of 'have', and 'nutrition food' instead of 'nutritious food'. Spelling and word formation are generally acceptable, but lexical control is inconsistent. The vocabulary allows the message to be communicated, but frequent minor inaccuracies prevent the response from achieving a higher band. Consequently, this performance fits the Band 6.0 descriptor for lexical resource.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at conditional structures and relative clauses. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('rich people has', 'whoever get'), missing articles ('solving poverty issue'), and run-on structures ('prioritizes his lifestyle such that, he primarily fulfill'). While these errors do not impede overall communication and the reader can still follow the arguments, the frequency of non-systematic errors places this response firmly at Band 5.5, as complex sentence attempts frequently contain flaws.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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