Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-11-04
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)
Nowadays, people are now living longer than ever before. Some people believes that over aged population generates different kinds of problems for government but some people argue that more elderly people are much beneficial for our society. From my observation and daily routine of life, i believe that we can learn many things from elder people's and become more mature in our own lifes but there are may be some problem for government to solve them. it contains pros and cons as well.
First of all, an aging population can creates problems for government related to manage something for everyone. Old aged people mostly are unemployed and they cannot manage their expenses as well, in this situation government opens the shalter home for that types of people and the government expenses should be rise for them like manage transport for them, food and also accomudation as well.
On the other hand, there are benefits if society has more elderly people, and i think government should need to manage these type of people in different setors of work and put them into duty to train other people according to their professional talent as well because i know they have much experience in various fields such as how to teach something to other people, how to drive any bus or car as well, how to talk with manners and i think they can teach everyone and we should neef to get their ideas from them, it is better for our professional life experience as well.
In the last, societies have elderly people are much better than problems for government. From my point of view, i believe that management is the best solution for all problem, we should need to solve the problems instead of ignoring and makes excues for that.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
You address both sides of the question and state a position: elderly people can share valuable experience, although governments may face extra costs. The examples of training others and providing food, transport and accommodation are relevant. However, the discussion is only partly developed. The disadvantages focus mainly on government spending, while the benefits are described broadly as learning from older people; explain more specifically how these benefits compare with the costs and why they outweigh them. Your conclusion repeats that society is better with elderly people but does not fully resolve the comparison. The response contains 19 words copied from the task prompt, which are excluded from the reported count.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph about problems, a paragraph about benefits, and a conclusion. Transitions such as “First of all” and “On the other hand” help signal the change in viewpoint. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow, particularly in the long benefits paragraph, where several examples are joined together without clear grouping. Some links are mechanical or unclear, such as “it contains pros and cons as well” and “In the last.” Improve cohesion by organising each paragraph around one main point, using clearer references, and separating supporting examples into shorter sentences.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “aging population,” “government expenses,” “professional talent,” and “experience in various fields.” This gives you enough language to communicate the main ideas, but the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are noticeably inaccurate. For example, “over aged population,” “opens the shalter home,” and “put them into duty” make parts of the argument less natural or less clear. Spelling errors such as “accomudation” and “excues” also affect accuracy. Build a more precise set of expressions for pensions, care services, employment and intergenerational knowledge, and check spelling and word forms carefully.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You attempt both simple and longer sentence forms, including clauses linked with “but,” “because” and “as well.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors in agreement, verb forms, articles and sentence boundaries occur frequently enough to make some ideas harder to follow. Examples include “Some people believes,” “can creates problems,” and “government expenses should be rise.” The sentence beginning “On the other hand” also runs through several ideas without clear punctuation. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement and verb patterns, then divide long sentences into shorter units. More reliable control of these basics will make your reasoning easier to understand.
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.