Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-29

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)

Many people like to do things in their comfort zones while others like to explore new things in life. I believe that both of these attitudes are very important. As such, some people wants to challenge their capabilities and learn new things in life while others maybe are scared of failures and being in the comfort zones are the things they want from life.

People wants to challenge their capabilities in order know how they would handle situations better in life. Challenging yourself would put in spotlight and that would encourage you to become a better person and make decent decisions in life. For example, people do skydiving for fun because they want to overcome their fear and by doing that you are motivating yourself that you can do it.

Also, I believe that these types of people will learn new things in life, since they are trying to do activites that are not in their comfort zones, usually it ends up being a life lesson. A person who have that mentality that fear is just within us and I have to overcome it, they would be able to motivate themselves as well as others. This would enhance your mental congitive and would result in have little stress and you would handle situation more calmly.

However, others will be only doing things which familiar to them because they might be scared of failures. As such, promotions in workplace where if a person is fully capable to move up in position then a person who do not believe in themselves and are scared to do something new would reject the offer.

Some people like what they do it everyday because this keeps them happy and free of stress. Sometimes trying new does not turn postively so doing some things in life would eliminated stress and anxiety. For example, all the time whenever I go to any restaurant, I would just order same food everytime because one time I tried new food, it was a bad decision so now I learnt that sometimes you do your regular and daily things.

To conclude, I think that these attitudes are part of everybody and each person is different from each other. Thus, some people would try new things because they want to challenge their capabilites and learn new things while others are scared of failures and people do not want anything new.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both attitudes and give a clear overall view that each has value. The discussion of trying new things is supported with relevant examples, especially skydiving as a way to face fear, while the familiar-food example helps explain why routine can reduce stress. These points keep the response focused on the question. However, some ideas are more fully explained than others: the claim that challenging yourself leads to better decisions is not clearly demonstrated, and the workplace-promotion example is introduced but not explored in detail. Your conclusion mainly repeats the two positions rather than sharpening your own view. Develop the reasons behind each attitude and explain more explicitly when you think novelty or familiarity is beneficial.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall structure: an introduction, separate discussion of trying new things and preferring familiarity, and a conclusion. Paragraphing generally helps the reader follow the two sides, and signposts such as “Also,” “However,” and “To conclude” make the direction clear. Some connections are nevertheless mechanical, and the progression within paragraphs is occasionally unclear. For example, the paragraph about learning from new activities moves from life lessons to motivating others and then to stress without fully showing how these points connect. References such as “these types of people” and “that mentality” could also be made more precise. Organise each paragraph around one main reason, then use a clear explanation or example to develop it.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to discuss the topic and make your meaning generally clear, including phrases such as “overcome their fear,” “life lesson,” and “stress and anxiety.” There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “capabilities” and “promotions in workplace.” However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or repetitive, which limits precision: “put in spotlight,” “do activities,” and “trying new” do not sound natural in these contexts. Spelling and word-form errors, including “activites,” “congitive,” and “capabilites,” also reduce control. Build a more accurate range of topic-related expressions and check spelling carefully; prefer natural combinations such as “step outside their comfort zone” and “take on new challenges.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, using clauses with “because,” “while,” and “since” to explain reasons and contrast attitudes. The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction occur across the response. Examples include “some people wants,” “a person who have,” and “things which familiar to them”; these should be “some people want,” “a person who has,” and “things which are familiar to them.” The sentence beginning “A person who have that mentality…” is also a fragment, while “would result in have little stress” has an incorrect verb pattern. Review subject–verb agreement and complete sentence structure, then proofread complex sentences to ensure each clause is grammatically connected.

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