Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-20
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 many countries, people are now living longer than ever before. Some people argue that an ageing population creates many problems for governments. Other people think there are more benefits if society has more elderly people. There are many drawbacks of having an ageing population such as they can not able to do more work as compare to the youngsters. Other main disadvantage is related to health problems.
There are several advantages if society has more elderly people such as they have more experience than the younger people. In many countries elderly people consider as the backbone of the family because they always give better solutions and help other family members. But sometimes having an elderly people in large proportion creates some drawbacks because at the certain age they can not attend any task particularly as compared to the youngsters. It also affect in their critical thinking and problem solving skills. Sometimes elderly people can not manage work-life balance due to their age.
Other main drawback is related to the health problems because they can not prepare for physical works. Sometimes due to age having health problems such as fitness, diabities, heart relates issues and ear problems so they can not able to do better in the task. They have poor communication skills and leadership as compared to the young generation because they do not aware about various technological innovations. For example, in the office many work or meetings conducted at the online platform for the collaboration of other companies. So elderly people do not familiar about the video calls technology or other language barrier issues arose.
In conclusion, there are some positive effects to having an elderly people but drawbacks far away to this advantages such as poor health and poor work efficiency than the young generation.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of an aging population, and a position is presented in the conclusion stating that the disadvantages outweigh the benefits. However, the development of ideas is limited and repetitive. For instance, the student mentions health problems and reduced physical capability across multiple paragraphs without expanding upon them with sufficient depth or specific, well-supported examples. The example provided regarding online meetings and video calls is somewhat generic and not fully elaborated. The response meets the basic requirements of the task in terms of addressing the prompt's core question, but the lack of fully developed supporting arguments places it firmly in the Band 5 category according to the official descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay is divided into four paragraphs, including an introduction and conclusion, but the logical progression within the body paragraphs is frequently disrupted. Cohesive devices are either repetitive or misused; for example, the phrase 'Other main drawback' is used repeatedly to introduce new points rather than ensuring smooth transitions. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal unity of the body paragraphs is weak, with ideas jumping between family roles, work-life balance, health issues, and technology without a clear overarching structure. Referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly with pronoun use like 'they can not able to do better in the task'. These issues indicate an overall arrangement that lacks clear progression, fitting the Band 5 descriptor.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive, frequently relying on simple terms such as 'problems', 'advantages', 'disadvantages', and 'youngsters'. There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations throughout the text, such as 'diabities' (misspelled), 'heart relates issues', 'do not aware about', and 'do not familiar about'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'technological innovations' and 'collaboration', but inaccurate word forms and choices cause difficulty for the reader at times (e.g., 'attend any task particularly'). The range of vocabulary is minimally adequate for the task, aligning with Band 5 descriptors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay displays a very limited range of grammatical structures. Most sentences are simple or attempt complex forms that result in frequent structural errors, such as 'they can not able to do more work', 'elderly people consider as the backbone', and 'there are some positive effects to having an elderly people'. Errors in auxiliary verbs, prepositions, subject-verb agreement, and word forms are pervasive throughout the text (e.g., 'it also affect in their', 'at the certain age'). These frequent errors can cause difficulty and strain for the reader, matching the profile of a Band 5 performance.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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