Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-02

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In some cultures, children are often told that they can achieve anything if they try hard enough. What are the advantages and disadvantages of giving children this message?

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In some cultures, childern are often told that they can achieve anything if they try hard enough.This message has both advantages and disadvantages.

There are several advantages of giving children this message.First of all, it can make children more confident and motivated. if children believe that hard work can help them to achieve their goals, they may not give up easily when they face some defficulties. For example, a student who wants to become a cricket player may work harder if they believe that their efforts can help them to achieve theor goal. this message can teach childern the value of hard work. they may learn that success requires effort,regular practice.

However,there are also some disadvantages. the biggest problem is that hard work does not always guarantee success.there are many other factors, such as money ,family background,health.For example, a child may work very hard achieve their goal like sports player but maynot achieve their goal because of the lack of talent and opportunities.this can cause disappointment and stress.

In conclusion, telling children that they can achieve anything through hard work can make them confident and motivated. children should be encouraged to work hard whole also understanding and accepting anythings happened.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of telling children they can achieve anything. However, the ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed, lacking sufficient extension and support. Furthermore, the length requirement is not met, as the response contains only 200 words, falling short of the 250-word minimum. To move to a higher band, you need to write more fully, extending your examples—such as the cricket player or factors like money and family background—with clearer explanations and a higher word count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear stance split into advantages and disadvantages. Paragraphing is utilized, and basic cohesive devices are present, such as 'First of all,' and 'However,' although some referencing is a bit mechanical or repetitive. To achieve a higher score, ensure a smoother logical progression between sentences and use a wider variety of cohesive devices without overusing simple transitions, while also making sure referencing words clearly point to their intended antecedents.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, with simple terms like 'confident,' 'motivated,' and 'disappointment.' However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors that detract from the writing, such as 'childern,' 'defficulties,' 'theor,' 'sports player' instead of 'athlete,' and 'anythings happened.' To improve lexical resource, you should work on accurate spelling and expand your range of less common vocabulary and collocations to express your ideas with greater precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, such as conditional clauses ('if children believe that...'). However, there are frequent errors in punctuation (such as missing spaces after periods and commas), capitalization issues like lowercase letters at the start of sentences, and minor structural awkwardness like 'work very hard achieve their goal' or 'work hard whole also understanding.' To reach the next level, you must improve your punctuation control, ensure correct sentence boundaries, and produce a higher proportion of error-free complex structures.

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

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