Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-28

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In some areas of the US, a 'curfew' is imposed, in which teenagers are not allowed to be out of doors after a particular time at night unless they are accompanied by an adult.

What is your opinion about this?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Nowadays, some places in the US have curfew due to which teenagers are only permitted with an accompanying adult to be out of the house after a specific time at night. In my opinion, this is the right approach if the safety of children is concerned.

In recent times, some parts of the US are under curfew because of the increase crime rates and teenagers getting involved in the wrong activities. In my opinion, this is the right thing to do because the well-being of the whole society depends upon this. The youth is our future, and if they get involved in illegal activities they can lose the right track and can harm themselves along with others. For instance, there is an increased intake of illegal drugs among teenagers in the US nowadays, and the number of consumers are increasing rapidly. The main reason behind this is that most of the teenagers think, those who does not consume it are outdated people.

However, the impact of this new rule will make the youth stubborn and frustrated as they are not allowed to go out of the house at night alone. The right approach is that the government should take strict measures to prevent such doings. They can put heavy security in those areas so that teenagers are free to play and communicate outside of the house easily. This will not only keep the safety of children intact but also ensure the trust of people in the authorities.

In conclusion, some parts of the US are under curfew in which teenagers cannot leave the house alone at night without an adult. In my view, this is the right thing to do in order to keep them safe. But the right approach is to strengthen the security in those areas as everyone deserves the right to live in a carefree environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by introducing the topic of curfews for teenagers and clearly stating the author's opinion that it is the right approach for safety. However, the development of ideas contains some contradiction and confusion. In the second paragraph, the author argues strongly in favor of the curfew due to rising crime rates and drug use. Yet, in the third paragraph, the author states that 'the impact of this new rule will make the youth stubborn and frustrated' and suggests an alternative approach involving heavy security instead. This shift makes the overall position slightly unclear, shifting between supporting the curfew and arguing for heavy security as a substitute. Despite this minor confusion in stance, the main prompt is addressed and supported with relevant examples, such as the mention of illegal drug intake among teenagers, aligning well with a Band 6 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a clear overall arrangement and follows a standard four-paragraph structure comprising an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different arguments. However, cohesion at the sentence level is occasionally faulty or repetitive. For instance, the phrase 'In my opinion, this is the right approach' is repeated multiple times ('In my opinion, this is the right approach if the safety of children is concerned' and 'In my opinion, this is the right thing to do'), which weakens the flow. Additionally, referencing is sometimes mechanical, and the transition between supporting the curfew in paragraph two and advocating for heavy security instead in paragraph three lacks smooth cohesive links, resulting in a somewhat disjointed progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the writer's ideas. The student attempts some less common and topic-specific vocabulary such as 'illegal activities', 'well-being', and 'carefree environment'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, such as 'increase crime rates' instead of 'increased crime rates' or 'increase in crime rates', 'get involved in the wrong activities', and 'the number of consumers are increasing' (where 'consumers' is less precise than 'users' or 'addicts' in the context of illegal drugs, and subject-verb agreement fails with 'are' following 'number'). While these errors do not impede overall communication, they prevent the lexical score from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures such as 'if the safety of children is concerned' and 'if they get involved in illegal activities they can lose the right track'. However, there are several grammatical errors and punctuation lapses throughout the text. Examples include missing articles or pluralization issues like 'increase crime rates', awkward phrasing like 'those who does not consume it' (which contains a subject-verb agreement error: 'do not'), and minor comma splices or missing commas. Despite these errors, the sentence structures are sufficiently varied, and meaning is rarely obscured, supporting a solid Band 6 performance.

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