Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-30

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 several countries the age number of people increased than before. Now, people live longer and healthier lives than their ansectors do.

To some extent this ppulation is a extra burden on government. As their medical and financial responsbility remain constant at any government. If they are retired or a person without a job, Government of sevral countries provide funds for their livlihood to support them. Moreover, oppurtunties decreases for the younger ones. For instance,an elderly people is renting an appartment in a city and on the other hand a younger person came to city for his study or job. There he/she can't find an accomodation easily as it is already occupied. So, there are less oppurtunties and more burden of their responsbility on a government and society too.

If we say, the benefits of elderly people are more over there than it is not wrong to say. I've seen that they have their own life time and personal experiences. The had have spent their life practically in a comfortable and worsen experiences too. They might have facedt he bitter realities of society as well as the nicest things. They can guide us accordingly. They can watch and understand the younger ones of this modern era.

The advantages of elderly people in our surrounding outweigh the disadvantages. I personally feel like they can provide good experiences. They just fit into any environment easily without resistance because they have good tolerence level.. Moreover, its a naturlal thing the child age group naturally attaches soon with the elder age groups. So, a certain number of elderly people in a society is approveable.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both sides of the question and give a clear overall view in the final paragraph: you believe the advantages of older people outweigh the disadvantages. The discussion of government support and possible pressure on younger people is relevant, as is your point that older people can share practical experience and guide younger generations. However, the position is not consistently developed: the opening calls the population an extra burden, while the later claim that its benefits outweigh the costs is not supported by a direct comparison. The accommodation example is also unclear and does not convincingly show how older residents reduce opportunities for younger people. Explain the scale of each effect and add a specific example of older people benefiting society, such as through childcare, volunteering, or passing on skills.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: it introduces the issue, presents disadvantages, discusses benefits, and ends with a conclusion. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, and linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “For instance,” and “So” show attempts to connect ideas. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow. The accommodation example shifts from an elderly person renting a flat to a younger person seeking housing without clearly explaining the connection. The transition “If we say, the benefits…” also does not clearly signal how the argument is changing. Use topic sentences to state each paragraph’s main point, then explain and support it in a logical sequence; make pronoun references and links between examples and claims explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “financial responsibility,” “livelihood,” “personal experiences,” and “bitter realities.” These choices show an effort to discuss social and economic effects rather than relying only on basic terms. However, the range is limited and several inaccurate word choices, collocations, and spellings make parts of the response difficult to understand, for example “age number,” “a extra burden,” “oppurtunties,” and “approveable.” Some phrases, such as “their own life time” and “comfortable and worsen experiences,” are unclear or unnatural. Build a more reliable set of topic vocabulary and check spelling and collocations. Prefer precise expressions such as “the proportion of older people,” “place a financial burden on governments,” and “share their life experience.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use both short statements and attempts at longer structures, including conditional phrasing (“If they are retired…”) and a contrast introduced by “on the other hand.” This gives the response some structural variety. However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors in sentence construction, agreement, articles, and verb forms frequently make the meaning harder to follow. For example, “As their medical and financial responsibility remain constant at any government” is an incomplete and unclear clause, while “The had have spent their life practically” has an incorrect verb sequence. In “a elderly people is renting,” the article, noun number, and verb do not agree. Practise building complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check agreement and tense before adding extra clauses.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.