Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-26

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)

The some proportion of the people say that the most pivotal thing regarding being wealthy is that one has the opportunity to help others. I strongly agree with this stance that rich people can provide assistance to improve conditions such as financial and employment, of individuals who belong to the impoverished background, although, I believe that financial wealth is not the only source of helping others.

One of the major reasons that influences the majority of the population to support this concept is that rich people can have more resources to support others such as creating jobs, helping poor families, funding education or healthcare, donating money to the charity or even supporting community welfare projects. A clear illustration of this is provided by new entrepreneurs who are spending more of their money in donation activities and supporting welfare projects for the needy people, as they are able to support others because of their financial wealth.

Conversely, some rich people are not willing to help others, as they want to save their wealth for their upcoming generations. For instance, conditions of the people of developing countries have not improved from many years, despite having wealthy individuals in their society.

Although, rich people have great opportunities to help others, I largely agree with that having financial money is not the only source of supporting others. Many people help others by encouraging and motivating them to work hard with great efforts to improve their circumstances.

Overall, according to some people rich people are more beneficial as they have more resources to support others, while from my perspective, wealthy people can help needy ones. However, it is not the solely source of helping others.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing whether the opportunity to help others is the most important aspect of being rich, presenting a clear overall position. The student agrees that wealth provides significant opportunities for assistance, while also introducing a nuanced viewpoint that financial wealth is not the sole source of help. Main ideas are supported, such as mentioning entrepreneurs funding education, healthcare, and community welfare projects. However, some arguments lack full extension. For instance, the counterargument regarding rich people wanting to save wealth for upcoming generations is introduced but remains somewhat under-developed, and the conclusion slightly restates ideas without adding deeper synthesis. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, fitting the criteria for a Band 6.5 or solid Band 6 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a logical overall progression and is divided into appropriate paragraphs, each focusing on a distinct point. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as "One of the major reasons," "Conversely," and "For instance." However, referencing and cohesion occasionally feel mechanical or slightly awkward, such as the transition "Although, rich people have great opportunities..." which disrupts the logical flow between paragraphs. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to structure the response, but the management of cohesive ties could be smoother to achieve a higher band score. The logical structure is clear enough for the reader to follow the arguments without difficulty.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common items such as "pivotal," "impoverished background," and "entrepreneurs." However, there are notable lexical errors and unnatural word choices throughout the text. For example, "The some proportion of the people" contains unnecessary articles and redundancy, "financial money" is tautological, and "solely source" should be "sole source." While these vocabulary errors do not impede overall communication, they reflect a lack of precision that prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Spelling is generally accurate, but word choice and collocation need refinement.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar with structures like conditional and concessive clauses ("although, I believe that..." and "as they are able to support..."). However, the text contains a frequent number of grammatical errors, particularly regarding article usage ("The some proportion of the people say"), prepositional phrases ("from many years" instead of "for many years"), and punctuation errors such as unnecessary commas splitting clauses. While these errors do not completely obscure the meaning and the reader can understand the arguments, the frequency of grammatical inaccuracies keeps the performance within 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.