Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-22

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 some countries many people argue that, people are living longer life than before can create problems for government and some people also believe there are some benifits fo elderly people. I believe the advantages are higher than disadvantages.

Starting with benifits, Elder people are very important for our country and society. This is because, elder people have more experience about life than younger population. They can develop the society because they knows the exact problem of society. Another benifit of elder people is they have high priority in politics. Politics is all about experience. For example, most of the elderly people enters in politics, as they have experience to built a stable country. Moreover, elder people can play their grandchildren. In fast growing economy parents have to word for their future and build a better career, for them children can be distraction for them. For example, elder people play with their grandchildren and parents can work freely.

All of this being said, It cannot be denied that there are some drawbacks of this arguments. To commence with, having elder people is benificial but they can create problem for government. Elderly people are very sensitive and they should be taken care all the time, because aging can lower immunity system. Another point is they need proper healthcare and it is very expensive sometime. In addition, elderly people are often burden for country, because they do not have income. So, government has to lool after them.

In conclusion, although elder people are living longer life than before can create problems for government but they have experience and strong knowledge. So, the advantages of having an aging population outweigh the disadvantages in a large extend.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear overall view that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and you address both sides with relevant points: older people’s experience and help with childcare are balanced against healthcare costs and government support. However, the discussion is only partly developed. The claim that elderly people have “high priority in politics” and that they enter politics to build a stable country is broad and not clearly connected to the benefits of an aging population. The childcare example is more concrete, but its explanation could be clearer. To strengthen the response, explain how each point affects society or government and support the comparison with a specific example. The response meets the stated length requirement; the 10 words copied from the task prompt are excluded from the count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, a paragraph on advantages, a paragraph on disadvantages, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “Starting with benefits,” “Moreover,” and “In conclusion” helps readers follow the broad direction. However, progression within paragraphs is uneven: the move from older people’s experience to politics, then to childcare, feels like a list rather than a connected argument. Some linking phrases are awkward or repetitive, including “All of this being said” and “To commence with,” and the conclusion repeats the introduction without clearly weighing the two sides. Group related ideas and use transitions that show the relationship between them, such as cause and consequence, to make the argument flow more naturally.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “experience,” “politics,” “healthcare,” “immunity system,” and “income.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling errors make the writing less precise. Examples include “benifits,” “fo,” “word for their future,” and “look after them”; “elder people” is also repeated where “older people” or “older adults” would sound more natural. Some expressions are unclear, such as “they can play their grandchildren,” which appears to mean that they can play with them. Aim to use accurate collocations and vary repeated terms, while checking spelling and choosing words that express the intended meaning precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a reason clause with “because” and a contrast introduced by “although.” However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to follow. For example, “people are living longer life than before can create problems” lacks a clear grammatical connection between its ideas, while “they knows” has incorrect subject–verb agreement. Other examples include “elderly people enters” and “although elder people are living longer life … can create problems,” where verb forms and sentence structure are faulty. Work on building complete clauses, matching verbs to their subjects, and using articles and plural forms consistently. Punctuating sentence openings and clauses accurately will also improve clarity.

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