Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-23

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)

I genuinely believe that increasing population of elderly people can create problems for government in many countries as people are now living longer than ever before. Earlier the average lifespan of humans used to be about 80 years but now it is increased till age of 100 years and even more. This is because of the development and progress in the field of medical and health, growing awareness, healthy lifestyle of people and growing attention of us towards our health and well being. The increase of aging population leads to the rise in cost expenditure, over population, etc. But there are some benefits too if the society has more elderly people. For example, if we consider a family of a working couple where both earns for their family and have two small children to take care of, it gets very difficult for them to manage their work place along with managing children and home. But if this couple had their parents who live with them, then their old parents can help them for managing household chores along with taking care of children. Elderly people do have lots of knowledge and experience as compared to young people or adults so they have more experience and skills of everything than others. Old people also helps us to remember our culture and tradition. Old people are also capable of completing small tasks, working for sitting jobs, etc. So if we look closely, having elderly people can also prove to be an advantage if we focus on their positive side rather than having pessimistic opinions about them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the problems and benefits of an aging population. However, the position is not clearly maintained throughout. While you acknowledge both sides, the essay lacks a clear conclusion that directly answers the 'to what extent' component of the question. The ideas are relevant, such as the economic burden versus the social support provided by grandparents, but they are somewhat under-developed. To improve, ensure you provide a clear thesis statement in the introduction and a summary in the conclusion that explicitly states your stance on whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages or vice versa.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is written as a single block of text, which significantly impacts coherence. IELTS Task 2 responses should be structured into clear paragraphs (introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion). While there is a logical flow of ideas—moving from the problems to the benefits—the lack of paragraphing makes the text difficult to navigate. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'For example' and 'But', but they are somewhat repetitive and basic. To reach a higher band, you must use paragraph breaks to separate distinct ideas and employ a wider range of linking words to connect your arguments more fluidly.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your meaning clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'average lifespan', 'well being', and 'expenditure'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there is some repetition of basic words like 'people' and 'old'. There are also minor issues with word choice, such as 'working for sitting jobs', which is not a natural collocation. To improve, try to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary and avoid repeating the same nouns and verbs throughout the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. For instance, 'increasing population of elderly people' should be 'the increasing population', and 'both earns' should be 'both earn'. Additionally, 'Old people also helps' contains a subject-verb agreement error. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles (a/an/the) to improve your accuracy.

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

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