Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-21

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)

The opinion on which we have to do a substantive debate is that in many countries there is a increase in number of people of old age and some people say that this creates problem for governments.

I agree to this opinion to some extent as having more elderly people in country indicates that the food quality, air purity and happiness index is very high but there are also some disadvantages to this because as we all know that people in their old age finds the task difficult which young persons can easily do.They cannot bear the workload as their body becomes tired after some work while on the other hand people in their youth do more work compared to them.So this is a major disadvantage because the economy of any country depends upon the youth of that country.

But unlike the all debate mentioned above their are still some countries who have more old age people than youth but their economy is very strong for example Japan, is a country with most amount of aged people but they have the third strongest economy in the world after USA, China.

So in my opinion having more aged people in population does not outstand the economy because the other things like less pollution, organic food and balanced diet are also very important thing.

As in Pakistan there are more number of young generation present per square meter as compared to old people but still we are not doing better in economy and other things. Our cities are in top 10 most polluted cities in the world. So in my opinion old age people does create problems for governments but not to a great extent but on smaller scales.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the problems and benefits associated with an aging population and takes a clear position. The response includes relevant examples, such as referencing Japan and Pakistan, which helps to extend and support the central arguments. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or rely on generalizations, such as the direct comparison of economic output based purely on age demographics without deeper elaboration. Nevertheless, the main task requirements are met adequately, aligning well with the expectations of a Band 6.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The text maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a recognizable attempt to structure ideas into an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, paragraphing is not handled effectively; the second paragraph is excessively long and crams multiple distinct ideas together. Cohesive devices are sometimes basic or repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'so' and 'but' to link clauses. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'unlike the all debate mentioned above', which impedes smooth transitions between paragraphs. Overall progression is somewhat mechanical, placing this response firmly in the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as 'substantive debate', 'happiness index', 'organic food', and 'economy'. There are several noticeable word-choice and phrasing errors, such as 'a increase' instead of 'an increase', 'old age people' instead of 'elderly people', and the awkward phrase 'does not outstand the economy'. Spelling is generally acceptable, and while the vocabulary is limited and contains errors, it remains minimally adequate and does not severely impede the reader's understanding, fitting the Band 5.5 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though attempts at complexity frequently result in structural and punctuation errors. Examples include run-on sentences and grammatical slips such as 'people in their old age finds the task difficult', where subject-verb agreement is faulty. Punctuation is inconsistently applied, with missing commas after introductory phrases and spacing issues around punctuation marks. While simple sentences are generally understandable, the frequency of grammatical errors in more complex structures prevents the score from reaching a higher band.

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