Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-11-01

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)

At present, in many countries, people has higher life-line than ever before. Some believe that older generation produce problems for goverments, whereas other argue that they are benefial for society. I strongly agree that, the advantages of having older people outweigh the disadvantages because they can bring community together and motivate younger generations.

On the one hand, having older people in society is a blessings. They can bring the whole community together with their life experience and real life skills. As they are older so they experienced many problems and know how to tackel them. They can share their experience with other and helps them to overcome any critical solutions. For example, in crisis moment of any natural disturbance , elderly people share their previous experience with other and help to find way to overcome this critical moment. Another reason is that they can motivate younger generations. Young generation are now more emotional. They can easily be broken and take impulsive decisions. However, elderly people in socity can motivate them and give them life lesson from their own life which can help new comers to take better decisions in their life.

On the other hand, there are some drawbacks of having older people in society. Goverment need to gvie extra focus on them. Older people can't work like others so goverment provide pension or other bonus to them at free of cost. For this reason , a good amount of money need to distribute on them which can be usable on other sectors like education , health or transport. Moreover, goverment need to create another lane or points on roads so older people can cross easily. Its also cost extra amount of money. In Japan, a huge amount of their budget cost for there older people.

In conclusion, though goverment need extra money and focus on elderly people, they are beneficial for society. Their life experience and motivation for younger generation easily outweight the disadvantges they create.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you believe the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, and you address both sides of the question. The benefits you identify—older people sharing experience and encouraging younger generations—are relevant, as are the costs of pensions and road adaptations. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained. For instance, the example of elderly people helping during a natural disaster is general, and the claim about Japan’s budget is not developed or connected to the scale of the problem. The discussion of motivation also relies on broad claims about young people. To strengthen the response, explain more precisely how these benefits affect society and compare their importance with the financial costs before reaching your conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” makes the direction of the argument easy to follow. Within paragraphs, however, some links are mechanical or unclear. For example, “For this reason” introduces the spending point, but the relationship between pensions and money that could be used elsewhere could be explained more explicitly. References such as “this critical moment” and “they” can also leave the reader unsure exactly which situation or group is meant. Use clearer links between each claim and its explanation, and organise each body paragraph around a more developed central point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “life experience,” “impulsive decisions,” “pension,” and “budget,” and your meaning is generally understandable. However, the range and control are limited by repeated general words such as “older people,” “money,” and “help,” as well as inaccurate word choices and collocations. Phrases such as “higher life-line,” “critical solutions,” and “at free of cost” are not natural in this context; spelling errors such as “goverments” and “outweight” also reduce accuracy. Aim to use more precise expressions for the effects and costs of an aging population, and check spelling and common word partnerships. This would make the argument clearer and more appropriately academic.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses beginning with “As” and “However,” and the overall meaning can usually be followed. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly with subject–verb agreement, articles, and verb forms. For example, “people has” should be “people have,” “older generation produce” needs a singular verb or a plural subject, and “they experienced many problems” would more naturally use the present perfect in this general statement. There are also errors in sentence construction, as in “As they are older so they experienced,” and punctuation spacing is inconsistent. Review agreement and tense choices, and avoid combining “as” and “so” in the same construction. More accurate complex sentences would improve control.

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