Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Nowadays, people live longer than before, so there are more elderly people in many countries. I think this has both advantages and disadvantages.

There are some benefits. Old people have a lot of experience and can give advice to young people. They can also help their family by looking after children.

However, there are some problems too. The government needs more money for hospitals and pensions. There may also be fewer young workers, so some companies can have worker shortages.

In conclusion, an aging population has both good and bad points, but I think the disadvantages are bigger.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response touches upon both the advantages and disadvantages of an aging population, noting points such as experience, childcare, government spending on pensions, and worker shortages. However, the ideas are severely under-developed and lack specific supporting examples or adequate expansion. Furthermore, the response falls significantly short of the word count requirement, containing only 98 words against the minimum of 250 words. Because the response is critically under-length and lacks the necessary depth and development expected for a Task 2 essay, it cannot achieve a satisfactory score under the Task Achievement descriptor and warrants a lower band level. To improve, the writer must extend their arguments fully and meet the minimum length.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is divided into short paragraphs that show a basic structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. However, the overall organization is extremely brief, limiting the flow and progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are minimal, relying on simple connectors like 'However' and 'In conclusion'. While the basic logical sequence of contrasting benefits and drawbacks is discernible, the lack of substantial content and cohesive variety restricts the cohesion score. Paragraphing is technically present due to the separation of ideas, but the paragraphs are too skeletal to demonstrate effective structural management.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is very basic and repetitive, utilizing everyday terms such as 'old people', 'young people', 'good and bad points', and 'more money'. There is an absence of less common or more sophisticated lexical items suited for an academic discussion on demographic trends. While the words used are spelled correctly and understood easily, the limited and elementary range prevents the student from achieving a higher band score. To improve lexical resource, the writer needs to incorporate topic-specific vocabulary related to demographics, economics, and sociology.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The text displays basic grammatical structures, mostly consisting of simple and compound sentences such as 'Old people have a lot of experience and can give advice to young people' and 'The government needs more money for hospitals and pensions.' These simple sentences are generally accurate and free of glaring errors, showing basic control over simple syntactic forms. However, there is a distinct lack of complex sentence structures, which prevents the student from demonstrating a wider grammatical range. Minor errors are absent, but the restricted variety keeps the grammar score at a modest level.

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

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