Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-15
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 recent years, opinion on growing aging populatiion has become a widely debated issue. Whie some peope argue that aging population has benefits, I strongly believe that an aging population only creates problems for government and become unnecessary burden for society. This essay will discuss the main reasons for my viewpoint and perpspective.
The primary reason why society consider elderly people as brden is that they do not contribute to any social task or particiate in any activities. This is mainly beacuse they do not have potential or energy for performing any activity due to which they depend on other individuals of society. For instance many writers also highlight this emerging issue in their piece of work and art. W.B Yeats consider and debated on this sensitive topic in "Sailing To Byzantium"by saying that old man is of no use and an aged man is but a paltry thing like tattered coat upon a stiick.Therefore, it highlights that how an aging population creates significant issue for government.
Some people firmly believe that an old age people are precious assets of society. This can be attributed to the fact that they went through lot of struggles, faces obstacles and gain experience in their journey. Their wisdom, knowledg, and experience provide milestone for progress of any country. A cear example of this is that when youth or young people find difficulty in some areas then elderly people help them how to figure them out by providing clear path as they have expereienced all these hurdles in their life. As a result, their opinions and perspectives on life are beneficial for society.
In conclusion, althpigh they flt as burden and useless but still at same time their wisdom is siginficant for spending life and progress of any country.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of an aging population, fulfilling the core requirements of the task. A clear position is established in the introduction, where you strongly argue that an aging population creates problems and burdens society. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and relies on sweeping generalizations, such as claiming elderly people do not contribute to any social task. While you attempt to support your position with a literary reference to W.B. Yeats, the integration of this idea is somewhat simplistic. To reach a higher band, the arguments need to be more fully extended and supported with nuanced reasoning and more realistic examples.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, dividing the introduction, body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. However, the logical progression is occasionally disrupted by mechanical or faulty cohesive devices. For instance, transitional phrases like 'The primary reason why society consider elderly people as brden is...' link ideas, but referencing is sometimes unclear, and the conclusion is abruptly short and contains spelling errors ('althpigh they flt as burden'). Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion within paragraphs could be significantly improved with a wider and more accurate range of cohesive markers to guide the reader smoothly through your arguments.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The lexical resource is adequate for the task, demonstrating an attempt to use less common vocabulary such as 'perspective', 'obstacles', and 'milestone'. However, there are frequent spelling errors ('popullatiion', 'Whie', 'peope', 'brden', 'beacuse', 'knowledg', 'expereienced', 'althpigh', 'flt', 'siginficant') and occasional word choice and collocation inaccuracies ('social task', 'gain experience in their journey'). These errors sometimes detract from the reading experience, though they rarely impede overall communication. To achieve a higher band, you need to demonstrate greater accuracy in spelling and a more natural control of less common lexical items.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures throughout the essay, utilizing subordinate clauses such as 'when youth or young people find difficulty in some areas then elderly people help them'. However, grammatical accuracy is noticeably weak, featuring frequent errors in subject-verb agreement ('society consider', 'an old age people'), missing articles ('in their piece of work and art'), and tense inconsistencies. Punctuation errors and run-on phrasing also occur. While these errors do not completely obscure meaning, they are frequent enough to prevent the response from achieving a higher band. A stronger focus on proofreading your work for basic grammatical agreements and article usage is recommended.
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.