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 people believe that the most important part of being rich is to help others when needed.
Starting with 'agree ' If someone is previlaged he/she must lend a helping hand to others who are in need or not financially stable this may help the needy to upbring themselves and live a better quality life as compared to themselves before, helping others can earn us good deeds, a sense of moral responsibilty earn respect in the society, blessings. We can help them in many different ways like supporting them financially, helping them through donations, educating them.
For example my mother always tends to lend a helping hand to person in need she helps them either by giving money, food or providing other resources like clothes, shelter in return she expects nothing but rather she receives blessings, well-wishes.
But i partially disagree with the statment because we are not obliged to help the others who are in need though we are rich it is entirely voluntary and depends on our own intentions or preference. I personally believe that It's not because of us they are in that condition it is because they are on their own. They never get satisfied with what they have they are covered with greed and impatience.
For example whenever I travel through metro I always donate a 20Rs bill to a homeless person at the metro station, one day instead of giving him 20Rs i gave him a 5Rs coin he was angry and shouted at me saying I don't want your 5Rs take it back give me 20Rs I was sad and disappointed and I completely agreed that helping them wouldn't change them at all but rather make them greed and hungry for more.
Hence, I conclude that I partially agree and disagree with the statment of "If we are rich we have the opportunity of helping others who are in need".
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both sides of the issue—arguing initially that helping others is a vital part of being rich, but then partially disagreeing due to personal responsibility and negative experiences with panhandlers. The position is stated, though slightly muddled by starting with conversational phrases like 'Starting with agree ' and concluding that the writer 'partially agree[s] and disagree[s]'. Ideas are supported with personal anecdotes, such as the mother's generosity and the metro ticket encounter. However, the reasoning tends to generalise slightly based on isolated personal experiences, which pulls the score towards the Band 6 level. The prompt is generally addressed, but the development of ideas could be more balanced and academic.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay lacks conventional paragraphing and structural signposting, resulting in a text that feels somewhat rushed and overly conversational. The student writes 'Starting with 'agree '' and crams multiple disparate thoughts into dense blocks of text rather than distinct paragraphs for each viewpoint. Cohesive devices are minimal or misused, such as the abrupt transition into 'But i partially disagree'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and punctuation is erratic, with sentences running together without proper capitalisation or full stops (e.g., 'respect in the society, blessings. We can help...'). Overall progression is discernible, but the lack of formal paragraph structure and mechanical cohesion places this clearly at Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for communicating basic ideas, but it contains noticeable spelling and word choice errors. For instance, 'previlaged' is misspelled, 'upbring' is used incorrectly instead of 'improve', and 'statment' is misspelled multiple times. The writer attempts some less common phrasing, such as 'financially stable', 'moral responsibilty', and 'greed and hungry', but these are undermined by mechanical inaccuracies and colloquial tone. While communication is not severely impeded, the frequency of lexical errors and limited range of sophisticated academic vocabulary point to a Band 5.0 performance.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The text relies heavily on simple and run-on sentences, often joining multiple independent clauses with commas instead of appropriate conjunctions or full stops (e.g., 'he helps them either by giving money, food or providing other resources like clothes, shelter in return she expects nothing...'). There are frequent punctuation errors, missing capital letters at the beginning of sentences and for the pronoun 'I' in places, and persistent grammatical inaccuracies. Attempts at complex sentence structures are often faulty and create confusion for the reader. These persistent errors across most sentences align with a Band 5.0 score for grammatical accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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