Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-11-14

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries, people are now living longer than ever before. Some people say an aging population creates problems for governments. Other people think there are benefits if society has more elderly people.

To what extent do the advantages of having an aging population outweigh the disadvantages?

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

There is an argument amoung people that old-age people create trouble for the government, while other say it has many advantages of having more elder people to society. Though for aged people a government have to spend huge budget on medicare and agecare, having old age people can outweigh disadvantages by providing a life lesson beyond a book.

Mostly, aging population require either medical support or emotional support. Therefore, medicare or agecare support possesses large amount of the budget of a country. This kind of expeniture forced to a government to reduce budget on the basic facility like, infrastructure, education and sports etc. So, having a more aged population leads to compromise in other basic facility to rest of the people. For example, Australia has a huge aged population. As a result they have to spend more on medical facility, not on other areas such as infrastructure, which leads to housing crises in Australia. Though this problem can be resolved by taking measures such as, regular health checkups and by having a healthy diet.

On the other side, old people live their life for a long time, and they have a vast experience of life, which cannot be found in any book. This leads to get a chance to learn about the life lessons from the aged people because learning this experience by own cost more than hearing from them. For example, lesson taught by old people will be vey helpful when a person in confusing or tough situation in life.

In conclusion, values that old people give to us is very imporatant in our life, whenever we are in troble, this can be outwiegh the disadvantage of cost that are inccured for the old age people on their medicare or agecare.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You present a clear overall view: although an aging population places pressure on public spending, the value of older people’s life experience outweighs this disadvantage. The discussion is relevant and includes examples, particularly the contrast between spending on care and learning from older people. However, the advantages are developed mainly as a general claim about “life lessons,” with little explanation of how this benefits society more broadly. The Australia example also links healthcare spending to a housing crisis without showing the connection clearly, and the proposed health-check measures do not fully explain how they would reduce government costs. Develop both sides with more precise reasoning and support to make the comparison more convincing and complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph on disadvantages, a contrasting paragraph on advantages, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “On the other side” and “In conclusion” helps readers follow the main direction. Within paragraphs, however, some links are mechanical or unclear. For instance, “Therefore” introduces the spending point, but the connection between that spending and Australia’s housing crisis is not sufficiently explained. The conclusion repeats the central contrast rather than drawing the argument together, and “Though this problem…” interrupts the development of the disadvantage paragraph. Use clearer cause-and-effect links and make each paragraph progress from its main point to explanation and evidence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “aging population,” “medical support,” “budget,” and “life experience,” and the reader can generally understand your argument. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling errors make the expression awkward: “old-age people,” “agecare,” “possesses large amount,” and “housing crises” are examples. There are also repeated references to “old people” and “life lessons,” so the vocabulary does not always express distinctions precisely. Aim to use standard terms for older people and public services, and check spelling and natural word combinations. More precise vocabulary would help you explain the economic and social effects with greater clarity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and complex sentences, including a concession in “Though…,” a relative clause in “which cannot be found in any book,” and a cause-and-effect sentence beginning “As a result.” However, complex structures are often faulty, and errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. For example, “old people live their life” has a number-agreement problem, while “a government have to spend” does not maintain subject–verb agreement. The opening sentence also combines contrasting ideas in an awkward structure. Practise building accurate sentences with one clear main clause, then add subordinate clauses only when their grammatical links are secure. Check articles and singular/plural forms during revision.

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