Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-15
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 5.0)
A lot of individuals in this time span tells that this is the best time to live in history. This statement can be made as we have the best technology in this era.
On one hand, the things look quite easy as we have the advancement that ever in the history was not there. If we want to eat something we can take out the frozen food and just microwave it and eat it. I f we want to speak with anyone in our relatives we can just video call them and they appear to be right in front of us without going too far to meet them.
On the other hand if we look around in the past when the technology was not this much advanced people used to have happy life, they used to live with healthy bodies as everything was fresh and they used to cook them themselves. Also when people wanted to meet their relatives they have to go their home which made bonds more strong than they are today. People wanted their friends to come home and enjoy with them, have some snacks and gossiping.
Considering this the result came that the living is best in every time zone but it only depended on the people that how they loved to be with each other together. But if talking about to live the best life it used to be the old times when peoples were far from each others but very close to the heart.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses both parts of the prompt: it considers whether this is the best time to live and briefly contrasts it with the past. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on modern technology focuses narrowly on convenience items like frozen food and video calling, rather than exploring broader societal, economic, or health factors. Similarly, the reflection on the past lacks specific historical context, generalizing that people simply had 'happy life' and fresh food. Furthermore, the second part of the prompt asking 'What other time in history would be interesting to live in?' is answered rather vaguely by broadly referring to 'the old times' rather than a specific historical era. Consequently, the position is somewhat blurred and the ideas are under-developed, aligning the response with a Band 5 performance.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay displays some organizational structure with a traditional introduction, two body paragraphs presenting contrasting views, and a concluding remark. However, the overall progression is weak and lacks a seamless flow of ideas. Cohesive devices are frequently repetitive, mechanical, or misused, such as the frequent reliance on 'On one hand' and 'On the other hand', followed by awkward transitions like 'Considering this the result came that'. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal paragraph cohesion breaks down due to abrupt shifts in thought, such as moving from microwave food directly to video calls without proper linking. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as pronoun ambiguity in phrases like 'they have to go their home'. These structural and cohesive weaknesses place the response securely at Band 5.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses a limited, repetitive vocabulary that is minimally adequate for the task. Words like 'people', 'live', and 'time' are heavily overused throughout the response. There are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and unidiomatic collocations, such as 'this time span tells that', 'the things look quite easy', and 'gossiping' used as a noun in a fragmented context ('have some snacks and gossiping'). Words are occasionally confused, as seen in 'peoples were far from each others'. While the general meaning remains understandable despite these limitations, the lexical range lacks the flexibility and precision required for higher bands, making a Band 5 score appropriate.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writing demonstrates a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple sentences and basic coordinating conjunctions. Attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty, leading to awkward and ungrammatical phrasing, such as 'it only depended on the people that how they loved to be with each other together' and 'when the technology was not this much advanced people used to have happy life'. There are frequent errors in verb tense consistency, subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'A lot of individuals... tells'), and article usage. These errors occur throughout the text and occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, placing the grammar performance at a Band 5 level.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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