Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-13
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)
In a number of nations, individuals average life has been increasing than previous records. A number of people believe that eldely population is burden for the authorities, while other argue that it is benfit for the society. I think that former opinion is far better, because having an elderly population has more disadvantages as compared with advantages.
On the one hand, a large number of elderly people represents a significant burden on the health department of the country. There are number of diseases associated with the age of the people such as asthma, improper functioning of digestive and circulatory systems. The more numbers of elderly people in a country, the more health budget its government should reserve. For instance, Government of Pakistan has to provide free medicines and treatments in hospitals. Neverthless, the care of elderly people is the duty of a country, but extra-cost is deducted from other sectors such as education and transport.
The other major disadvantage is that elderly people are not able to work or eat themselves in many cases. To feed the elders, there must be a servant or a family member has to be responsible. A large amount of monthly income spent on the medicine and care of elders leads to financial crisis particularly in the families where a single person is responsible for bread and butter. For example, my father's 35 percent monthly salary blew away on the medicine and care of my grandparents which feels like a burden to him.
In conclusion, a significant number of elderly people in a society are burden for the governments as well as for the familes, so I assert that elderly population's disadvantages outweight its advantages.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both sides of the issue and clearly stating a position that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. The main ideas are relevant, focusing on the health burden and financial costs associated with an aging population. However, the development of ideas leans heavily on personal examples, such as mentioning the 'Government of Pakistan' and the author's father's salary, rather than broader societal analysis. This prevents the argument from reaching the fully extended depth required for higher bands. Nevertheless, all parts of the task are addressed with a clear overall position maintained throughout, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptor.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay has a clear overall arrangement with an introduction, two body paragraphs focusing on distinct disadvantages, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'On the one hand' and 'In conclusion', though some referencing and transitions are slightly mechanical or faulty, such as 'The other major disadvantage is that elderly people are not able to work or eat themselves in many cases', which contains awkward phrasing. Progression is generally logical, but logical links between sentences occasionally falter, placing the response firmly at Band 6.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items like 'significant burden', 'financial crisis', and 'authorities'. However, there are numerous noticeable errors in word choice, form, and collocation throughout the essay. Examples include 'eldely population' instead of 'elderly population', 'burden for the authorities' instead of 'burden on', 'benfit' instead of 'benefit', and 'blew away' instead of 'is spent'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'I think that former opinion is far better, because having an elderly population has more disadvantages as compared with advantages.' There are frequent grammatical errors, including missing articles ('represents significant burden', 'Government of Pakistan'), preposition errors ('burden for the authorities'), and subject-verb agreement or structural lapses ('a family member has to be responsible', 'elderly people are not able to work or eat themselves'). These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, placing the grammar score at Band 5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.