Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-08
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 5.5)
Nowadays, we have trend to try new things like visiting different places and types of food. whereas, others prefer to do the same things they are familiar with. However, there could be lots of reasons behind this trend. Moreover, I will be discussing both the views and give my opinion at the end.
To begin with, humans would like to try new things like visiting new places, clothes and cuisines. The main reason behind this trend is, expanding their knowledge about different culture and learn new skills in their day to day life. Moreover, by going to new places help them to learn about their culture and diversity and as a result they would gain some knowledge. Furthermore, they will learn new skills by doing this. For example, in the year 2025, the government have stated that, approximately 80% of the population are interested to do new things and as a result, it helps them to expand their knowledge and skills.
On the other side, some of them would like to do the same as they are familiar with that. Main cause behind the trend is that , they are afraid to try new things. Even, they may have less confidence to do it in their life. For instance, some humans are really scared to try different thing and said that , they would not have confidence in themselves.
In my opinion, exploring new things is great way to enhance the knowledge and skills.
To conclude this, some people would like to do new options because of curiosity and gain new knowledge and others are interested to do the same things because of lack of self confidence.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a personal opinion, meeting the basic requirements of the task. However, the development of ideas is limited. The arguments regarding why people prefer familiarity are repetitive and lack depth, relying on general statements about 'fear' and 'lack of confidence' without exploring the psychological or practical benefits of routine. The example provided regarding government statistics in 2025 is vague and lacks a clear connection to the prompt's focus on personal attitudes. To improve, you should provide more detailed explanations and concrete, real-world examples to support your points, ensuring that the discussion is balanced and fully extended.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical and sometimes inaccurate. For example, the transition 'On the other side' is used, but the flow between sentences within paragraphs is choppy. The referencing is occasionally unclear, and some sentences feel disconnected from the previous ones. To reach a higher band, you should focus on using a wider variety of linking words more naturally and ensure that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that guides the reader through your argument.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. You frequently use phrases like 'try new things' and 'do the same things', which limits the sophistication of your writing. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'we have trend to try new things' instead of 'there is a trend towards trying new things'. To improve, you should aim to incorporate more precise vocabulary related to the topic, such as 'novelty', 'routine', 'comfort zone', or 'adventurous', and work on using more varied sentence structures to express your ideas.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow. Common issues include missing articles ('about different culture' should be 'about different cultures'), subject-verb agreement errors ('government have stated' should be 'government has stated'), and punctuation errors, particularly with comma placement. While the meaning is generally clear, these persistent errors prevent the writing from reaching a higher band. You should focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy, specifically regarding pluralization, verb tenses, and article usage.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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