Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-19
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 many parts of the world, people are now having a longer life than ever before. Some people believe having an ageing population can bring some issues for governments. The others there are benefits of having more elderly people in society.
An ageing population creates lots of advantages. The first one is experienced workforce and knowledge transfer. Older people have extensive professional and life experience. They can pass valuable knowledge, skills and practical advice to younger generations. For example, I usually talk to my grandfather whenever I feel like there is no solutions for the problems what I was facing. He always gives me useful advices wich lighten my mind. Also, elderly people help with maintaining traditions as they are the ones who can share and teach youngster about traditional activities, how to preserve and show gratitude to our ancestors.
Next, elderly people bring a greater social stability. Older generations can contribute to our society through voluteering, mentoring or supporting families. As we can see, nowadays, there are many elderly take part in some volunteering projects in hospitals to take care of patients, or help to take care of their grandchildren. This can strengthen relationships beween generations.
Last but not least, an ageing population bring the growth of "silver economy". An ageing population creates greater demand for heathcare, tourism. leisure activities, and products designed for older consumers. This can create new occupations and business opportunities.
Although there are still some disadvantages related to higher healthcare costs or greater financial burden on younger generations, I belive that an ageing populations brings more benefits and creates a better society.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| 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, expressing a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Main ideas such as the experienced workforce, social stability, and the silver economy are introduced and supported with relevant explanations and examples. For instance, the discussion on the silver economy mentions healthcare, tourism, and leisure activities. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or rely on personal anecdotes rather than broader societal examples, such as the mention of the writer's grandfather. Furthermore, the introduction has a fragment ('The others there are benefits...'). Overall, the task is sufficiently addressed to meet the criteria for Band 6.5, leaning towards Band 6 for some under-developed supporting examples.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is generally coherent with an overall logical arrangement, dividing the body paragraphs into distinct advantages: workforce experience, social stability, and the silver economy. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For instance, transitional phrases like 'The first one is', 'Next,', and 'Last but not least,' are quite basic and formulaic. Additionally, referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the incomplete sentence in the introduction ('The others there are benefits...'), which disrupts the flow of information. Paragraph transitions could be smoother and more sophisticated to achieve a higher band score.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'knowledge transfer', 'silver economy', and 'healthcare costs'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, spelling, and collocation. For example, the student writes 'having a longer life' instead of 'living longer', 'voluteering' instead of 'volunteering', 'heathcare' instead of 'healthcare', and 'useful advices' (advice is uncountable). Additionally, 'beween' is misspelled. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they prevent the score from reaching a higher band. Vocabulary use is generally sufficient to convey meaning clearly.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses (e.g., 'who can share and teach youngster') and conditional elements. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text. Examples include 'people are now having a longer life', 'bring some issues' (should be 'bring about' or 'cause'), 'The others there are benefits', 'there is no solutions', 'the problems what I was facing' (incorrect relative pronoun), and 'many elderly take part' (missing noun like 'people'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical slips in verb forms, prepositions, and agreement are frequent enough to restrict the score to Band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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