Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-24

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)

Lifespan of any human being is the time period till its dead. In many countries, People have their lifespan for longer than in the past decades. The advantages of having higher lifespan outweigh its disadvantages.

One of the most convincing reason to live longer is for the happiness of our family. The most sad part of the life is to loss our loved ones and sometimes if the age is too small to loss than it becomes the hardest part of the life. Old people is called the base of the family, so it is very important to have an old aged people in each family. One major disadvantage of an aged population is the increase in pressure on public services like healthcare and pension. As older people are more likely to have a medical treatment regularly with proper financial support.

One of the primary reason for the advantages of an aged people is they help us in may life problems as they have all types of experience in their life. If we are stuck in any problems than, it is sure that they have proper solution for that problem. They also help the family in several ways, for example Grandparents can take care of their younger child when their parents are out for job. One economic disadvantage of longer lifespan is directly linked to government. If aged population will become more than working-aged people than there will be less tax payers to the government which will affect the government in country's development.

To pen down, aged people can increase the pressure on the healthcare system, pension and workforce. Nevertheless, the experience, knowledge and contribution of older people to the society has several advantages which outweighs its disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of an aging population. You clearly state your position in the introduction that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the point about 'happiness of our family' is a bit subjective and lacks depth. The economic argument regarding the tax base is relevant but could be expanded with more specific reasoning or examples. To improve, ensure that each body paragraph focuses on a single, well-developed idea that directly supports your thesis, providing more concrete evidence or logical progression to strengthen your argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. You use some cohesive devices such as 'One of the most', 'For example', and 'Nevertheless' to link ideas. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly repetitive. There are also instances where the flow between sentences could be smoother; for example, the transition between the discussion of family support and the economic disadvantage in the third paragraph is abrupt. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that referencing (e.g., 'that problem') is precise will help improve the overall cohesion of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your meaning clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'public services', 'healthcare', 'pension', and 'working-aged'. However, there are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'time period till its dead' instead of 'until death', and 'if the age is too small to loss' which is unclear. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing. Expanding your range to include more sophisticated academic vocabulary would also be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt to use complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('Old people is called', 'One of the primary reason') and incorrect article usage. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma placement. These errors do not generally impede communication, but they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. To improve, focus on mastering basic subject-verb agreement and proofreading for common errors in pluralization and sentence structure.

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