Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

In recent years, the ageing population live longer has attracted considerable attention. Although, it offers several benefits, it also brings notable drawbacks that can’t be overlooked. This essay will explain both advantages and disadvantages, and discuss how benefits of having an older population outweigh the disadvantages.

As nowadays individuals are now living longer. One of the most significant advantages of having older people is, as they had a lot of experience about everything, if someone face difficult circumstances in life, they can guide better to anyone. Apart from that, in our culture, older people are considered as a source of blessing. As, whenever I have any problem, i go straight to my grandmother and have conservation with her. She guided me and also make a prayer for me. As a result, most of the time my problem solves, just because I follow her instructions and she make prayer for me.

On the other hand, if ageing individuals lives longer, it also creates issues for governments. The most compelling reason in favor of this is that, if they live longer, government has to pay a considerable amount on them, as a lot of old age homes are run through budgets from government, and a considerable amount go into their health and medical care facilities. Also, a heavy amount from government goes to pension of older people. Instead, government can utilize this money for better purpose. That also helpful for the society and younger generation.

In conclusion, having older people has both advantaged and disadvantages. While elder people have a lot of experience and are a great source of blessing, it also creates issues for government, as government have to spend a lot their budgets on them. So, i believe there are little advantages as compare to disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of an aging population, and the writer takes a clear position in the introduction and conclusion stating that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. However, the ideas lack fully developed academic support. For instance, the advantage is illustrated primarily through a personal anecdote involving the student's grandmother rather than broader societal examples. Similarly, the discussion of government expenditure on pensions and old age homes is somewhat repetitive and generalized. While the task is adequately addressed, the reliance on personal narrative and under-developed arguments keeps this performance at Band 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is divided into four paragraphs, providing a basic structural framework with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, cohesion within and between sentences is often faulty and mechanical. The writer uses repetitive transitional phrases like 'As' and 'Also' at the beginning of sentences. Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as the pronoun shifts and confusing sentence boundaries in sentences like 'As nowadays individuals are now living longer.' Paragraphing is used to separate the main points, but the overall progression lacks smooth flow and logical transitions. These issues align well with the Band 5 descriptors for Coherence and Cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student displays an adequate vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as 'considerable attention', 'circumstances', and 'government budgets'. However, there is a limited range of less common lexical items, and word choice is frequently unnatural or inaccurate, such as 'have conservation with her', 'make prayer for me', and 'advantaged and disadvantages'. Repetition of common words like 'considerable', 'amount', and 'government' limits the lexical score. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey basic meaning, errors in collocation and word formation prevent the writer from achieving a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is weak throughout the text. There are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('the ageing population live longer', 'individuals lives longer', 'problem solves'), incorrect verb forms ('she guided me and also make a prayer'), and punctuation errors. Additionally, many sentences are awkwardly constructed and fragment ideas, such as starting sentences with 'As' or 'Instead'. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect typical Band 5 grammatical performance.

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