Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-10

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people say that now is the best time in history to be living.

What is your opinion about this?

What other time in history would be interesting to live in?

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Some people believe that the present time is the best time in history to be alive. i strongly agree with that because right now we have the best faculties around us. the technologie expanding very quickly moreover the healthcare and the living standard are so modernized then before and i also believe that some period in the past would be extremely interesting to experience,

One major reason why the present is considered as the best time to live is the rapid development in technology and medicines. today people have access to treatment of many disease like cancer,heart issue,diabetes and alot of more that would we once considered as life-threatening in addition the internet allow to connect people for communication and provide the access an wide range of information for example student join online course from international universities without having the travel aboard .

Another important advantage of this era is that improving the living condition. in many countries people have access of safe drinking water, better transportation and more efficient public services than before although serious issue like war, climate change still exist. normal life access to education have improve significantly in many part of world.

In conclusion ,I believe that the present is probably the best period in history to live in because of advances in medicine, technology and living standards. Nevertheless, the rebirth would be an especially interesting period to experience because of its remarkable cultural and achievements.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, expressing a clear opinion on the present day and identifying the Renaissance as an interesting historical period. However, the essay fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, which negatively impacts the development of ideas. While the arguments regarding technology and healthcare are relevant, they are somewhat superficial and lack depth. The second part of the prompt regarding the Renaissance is mentioned only in the final sentence, meaning it is significantly under-developed. To improve, you should expand on your reasoning with more specific examples and ensure you meet the length requirement to allow for a full exploration of all task components.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your argument. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or missing. For instance, the transition between the introduction and the first body paragraph is abrupt. There are also issues with punctuation, such as missing spaces after commas and periods, which disrupts the flow of the text. While there is an overall progression of ideas, the lack of sophisticated linking words makes the writing feel somewhat disjointed. Improving your use of transition signals like 'consequently', 'furthermore', or 'in contrast' would significantly enhance the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for a higher band. You rely on basic terms like 'best', 'good', and 'things'. There are also some errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'faculties' (when you likely meant 'facilities') and 'the rebirth' (when referring to the Renaissance). Spelling errors, such as 'technologie' and 'alot', also detract from the overall quality. To improve, focus on learning topic-specific vocabulary related to history and technology, and pay closer attention to accurate spelling and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede readability. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'the technologie expanding'), missing articles, and incorrect preposition usage (e.g., 'access of safe drinking water'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with several instances of missing spaces after punctuation marks. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of these errors limits the score. You should focus on proofreading your work to correct basic errors and practice using more complex sentence structures with greater accuracy.

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

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