Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-27

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)

Aging people can be an advantage or disadvantage for certain societies or governments. Since the average life expectancy has increased due to the lifestyle changes in many countries we have people living longer than ever before.

Sometimes older people can contibute to issue as the generation gap is now increased and the thought process of current generation is different as compared to the older ones. So mismatch of views and opions can take place. Also, government in some countries provide a lot of facilities to old people from certain age. For example, people age more than 65 years are given facilites like free hospital services and public transportation around the state. Which can hammper the government budget as more and more people start using this facilities. Also older people require extra care and support which can disturb the experiance of certain crowd using the same facilities.

On the other hand, it is also beneficial to have elderly people around. Theya re required in the community and are looked up for advice in many situations. Since they have more experiance and mature opinion then other people. Their thoughts are valued and considered in the society. They are often reached by many individual for consultations in difficult situations in life.

In conclusion, elderly people can cause problem in some situation to other and also goverment but can also be very useful to the society for their advices and life teachings. As far as they don't cause many issue in the community it is good to live together and spread happiness.

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 development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the point about government budgets is mentioned but not fully explored with specific evidence or logical depth. The position is clear, but the conclusion is a bit simplistic and does not fully weigh the advantages against the disadvantages as requested by the prompt. To reach a higher band, you should provide more detailed examples and ensure that your argument directly answers the 'to what extent' component of the question by clearly stating which side is more significant.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the progression of ideas. You use some cohesive devices like 'On the other hand' and 'In conclusion' to signal shifts in the argument. However, the internal cohesion within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical or repetitive. For example, the frequent use of 'Also' to start sentences makes the flow feel a bit disjointed. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each sentence flows naturally into the next would significantly enhance the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. There are several spelling errors, such as 'contibute', 'opions', 'hammper', and 'experiance', which occasionally distract the reader. You rely on basic vocabulary like 'good', 'useful', and 'problems'. To improve, you should aim to use more sophisticated collocations and topic-specific terminology related to demographics and economics. While the meaning is clear, the lack of variety and the recurring spelling mistakes limit the score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the quality of the writing. Issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'government... provide'), article usage (e.g., 'use this facilities'), and awkward phrasing (e.g., 'people age more than 65 years'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are persistent throughout the text. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and try to incorporate more complex sentence structures with greater control over punctuation and verb forms.

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

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