Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-01

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)

Many people assume that the greatest benefit of being wealthy is having the ability to support other people who needs help.This essay agrees with this statement due to the fact that they have a lot of opportunity to help reduce some bad side of society and it can also affect their lives in a goodway.

Firstly, a lot of people struggle with financial difficulties and cannot afford basic necessities such as food, education and healthcare.Whereas, wealthy people have the financial ability to support these humans by donating money to charities or providing essential resources.As a result, they can help reduce poverty and improve the quality of life disadventaged people. For example, rich individuals can provide financial s

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response fails to meet the minimum length requirement of 250 words, stopping abruptly at 117 words. This under-length impacts task achievement as the prompt is only partially addressed. While the writer presents a clear position agreeing with the statement, the ideas are severely limited and left under-developed due to the cut-off text. For instance, the argument regarding reducing societal problems and impacting lives is introduced in the introduction but lacks the fully extended body paragraphs expected to reach higher bands. To improve, the writer must ensure they write at least 250 words and fully elaborate on all presented examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some organisation present, such as the use of an introductory sentence and a first body paragraph marker ('Firstly,'). However, the overall progression is limited because the essay cuts off mid-sentence. Cohesive devices are somewhat mechanical, as seen in the transition 'Whereas,' used incorrectly at the start of a sentence. Paragraphing is initiated, but the lack of a complete essay prevents a sustained logical flow throughout. To reach higher bands, the writer should ensure smooth progression across fully developed paragraphs, using a wider and more accurate range of cohesive devices without abrupt endings.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for the task, featuring basic items like 'financial difficulties', 'basic necessities', and 'charities'. There are noticeable lexical errors and inappropriate word choices, such as 'other people who needs' (should be plural 'need'), 'goodway' (written as one word instead of 'good way'), and the spelling error 'disadventaged' instead of 'disadvantaged'. These errors cause some slight strain for the reader. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to incorporate a wider range of less common vocabulary with greater precision in spelling and word collocation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as the subordinate clause in 'Many people assume that...'. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, including missing spaces after punctuation marks (e.g., 'help.This essay' and 'resources.As a result'), and subject-verb agreement issues ('other people who needs'). These frequent errors and limitations in structure can cause some difficulty for the reader. To improve, the writer should focus on careful punctuation, spacing, and grammatical accuracy across a more varied range of complex sentence patterns.

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

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