Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-12

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people like to try new things, for example, places to visit and types of food. Other people prefer to keep doing things they are familiar with.

Discuss both these attitudes and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 5.0)

Some individuals are highly proactive in experiencing the new tastes of food, visiting some unfamiliar places and also trying different attire to look different. However, others prefers to stick with their common choices due to various reasons. Undoubtedly, both approaches have their own benefits but I personally believe that people should maintain the balanced approach.

On the one hand, some who like to explore new things in their life might gain lot of confident and understand the other countries or cities culture and tradition. Because this changes might render several memories and new experience in the life. For example, some tourist who visit certain countries in South Africa would definitely find difficult to mingle with the people from that country due to the language barriers and distinct food changes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response is significantly under the required word count of 250 words, reaching only 129 words. This severely limits your ability to develop your ideas. While you introduce both sides of the argument and state your opinion, the discussion is incomplete. The second paragraph attempts to discuss the benefits of exploring new things, but the example provided regarding South Africa is confusing and does not clearly support the point. To improve, you must expand on your arguments with more detailed explanations and relevant examples, and ensure you address all parts of the prompt fully, including the 'familiarity' side of the argument which was neglected.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay shows a basic attempt at organization with an introduction and the start of a body paragraph. However, the lack of a full response makes it difficult to assess your ability to manage paragraphing and logical progression. You use some cohesive devices like 'On the one hand' and 'However', but the flow is interrupted by the abrupt ending. To improve, ensure each paragraph has a clear topic sentence and that your ideas are linked logically throughout the entire essay, including a conclusion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for basic communication, but it lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. You use some repetitive phrasing, such as 'new things' and 'different'. There are also minor collocation issues, such as 'gain lot of confident' (should be 'gain a lot of confidence'). To improve, try to incorporate more varied and precise vocabulary related to the topic, such as 'novelty', 'routine', 'comfort zone', or 'cultural immersion', and pay closer attention to word forms and articles.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'others prefers' (subject-verb agreement error), 'gain lot of confident' (article and word form errors), and 'this changes might render' (plural/singular mismatch). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the sentence structures are somewhat basic. To improve, focus on mastering subject-verb agreement, correct article usage, and expanding your range of complex sentence structures while ensuring they remain error-free.

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

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