Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-17
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)
In this modern era, people are doing comparison between the current lifestyle and the lifestyle of previous time to find out a difference of living style. This has led some people to think that they are living in best time in the history. The subsequent paragraphs will explore the reasons this idea, including the desired historical time to live in, with paticular emphasis before presenting my opinion on this matter.
To begin with, I do support them who think that they are living in the best time in history because technology is more advanced than before. which is making everyone's life more reliable due to modern gadgets. For instance, it was not possible of getting help from AI to complete various tasks in past time, but now children are also learned how use AI.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0
The student attempts to address the prompt by introducing their opinion on whether the present is the best time in history to live. However, the response is severely underdeveloped and incomplete. Crucially, the writing is 116 words short of the mandatory 250-word minimum, which significantly impacts Task Achievement. Furthermore, while the writer touches upon modern technology and AI, they completely fail to discuss the second part of the prompt, which asks what other time in history would be interesting to live in. Because of the incomplete task fulfillment and extreme under-length, this performance falls into Band 4.0 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response attempts to use standard organizational features such as an introductory paragraph and transition phrases like 'To begin with'. However, paragraphing is underdeveloped, and the flow is disrupted by structural issues. Cohesive devices are occasionally mechanical or misused, such as the fragment 'which is making everyone's life more reliable', which improperly attaches a relative clause to a standalone period. Although there is a discernible overarching topic, information and ideas lack smooth progression due to the brevity and abrupt ending of the text. This aligns best with a Band 5.0 level.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, featuring phrases such as 'modern era', 'lifestyle', and 'previous time'. There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'doing comparison' instead of 'comparing', 'best time in the history' missing an article, and 'reliable' used instead of 'convenient' or 'comfortable'. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey basic concepts about technology and AI, the limited range and noticeable inaccuracies place this criterion at Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates a very limited range of structures. The writing contains frequent grammatical errors, such as a sentence fragment ('which is making everyone's life more reliable'), preposition errors ('in past time' instead of 'in the past'), and subject-verb agreement or tense errors ('children are also learned how use AI'). While simple sentences are generally understandable, attempts at more complex structures frequently result in faulty grammar. These persistent errors that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader place the response at Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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