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)

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 financial and employment conditions, 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 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 für 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, the conditions of the people of developing countries have not improved for 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 resources 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 sole source of helping others.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position on whether the most important aspect of being rich is the opportunity to help others. The writer agrees that financial wealth provides significant opportunities to assist impoverished individuals through resources like employment, charity, and education, while also offering a nuanced counter-perspective that wealth is not the sole means of support. Ideas are generally well-supported with relevant examples, such as entrepreneurs funding welfare projects and the observation that wealth alone does not instantly fix developing nations' issues. However, the development of ideas could be slightly more extended in places to fully reach the criteria for Band 7, where all ideas are thoroughly supported and extended. Nonetheless, the task is well-handled.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression of ideas from introduction to body paragraphs and conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately, with distinct paragraphs dedicated to the main arguments, counter-arguments, and the writer's perspective. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as 'One of the major reasons', 'Conversely', and 'Although'. However, some of the transitional phrases feel slightly repetitive or mechanical, and referencing is occasionally affected by minor mechanical slips. Overall, the organizational structure is clear and easy to follow, supporting a solid Band 6 performance.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating less common lexical items such as 'pivotal', 'impoverished background', 'entrepreneurs', and 'welfare projects'. However, there are noticeable limitations and occasional awkward word choices, such as 'donation activities' instead of 'philanthropic activities' or 'making donations', and a stray German character ('für') slips into the text. Despite these minor inaccuracies, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning clearly without impeding communication, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses, such as in 'I strongly agree with this stance that rich people can provide assistance...'. There are several grammatical errors and punctuation issues, including lowercase beginnings of sentences ('some proportion', 'although'), missing articles, and awkward phrasing. Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication, and the writer maintains control over basic sentence structures. This combination of a mixed structure range and non-impeding errors fits comfortably within the Band 6 category.

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