Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-30

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people think it's better to choose friends who always have the same opinions as them. Other people believe it's good to have friends who sometimes disagree with them.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

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

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

There is an ongoing debate on the selection of friends, some argue that friends should be always having the similarities, the rest of believe that they should have different behaviours. Both sides have merits which I will discuss in my upcoming paragraphs.

To begin with, why I am going with the friends with having same opinions as them. Firstly, company of same mind friends always help each others in all problems. For example one is solving the math equation the other can help him to solve it fast to let him know the next part which leads to save time and energy .They can use that it in other work.

However, why people need friends who sometime disagree with their views could help them to save from the danger. A man or women who always expect positive words from their coleaugs in their praise to feel them happy always ,but a person with different thinking can tell the truth to change their opinions and show them the wright path . People can become more concious about their world leads to help them to live a suscsessful life . For an instance, a person is working on a project with the person have different ides leads to get a wonderful outcomes will help them to show their potential productivity in positive way.

In conclusion, in my opinion both sides have merits . Every one needs both type of friends rather then one type because sometimes we need their support and sometimes we need argues to reach on the goal

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both views and provides a personal opinion, meeting the basic requirements of the prompt. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. The arguments regarding 'same-minded' friends are quite brief and rely on a simple example of solving a math equation. The second paragraph regarding 'disagreeing' friends is more developed but suffers from unclear phrasing, such as the claim that disagreement helps one 'save from the danger'. While the position is clear, the supporting points lack depth and sophistication, which prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. The conclusion is also quite abrupt and lacks a summary of the main points discussed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the logical progression is hindered by awkward phrasing and repetitive sentence structures. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To begin with', 'However', and 'In conclusion', but they are often followed by sentences that lack clarity. Referencing is sometimes confusing, particularly in the second paragraph where the connection between 'disagreeing friends' and 'saving from danger' is not clearly articulated. The flow between ideas is mechanical rather than natural, and the lack of sophisticated transitions makes the argument feel disjointed at times.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary range is limited and often imprecise. There are several spelling errors, such as 'coleaugs' (colleagues), 'wright' (right), 'concious' (conscious), 'suscsessful' (successful), and 'ides' (ideas). Furthermore, word choice is frequently unnatural, such as 'having the similarities' instead of 'sharing similar opinions' and 'need argues' instead of 'need debate or disagreement'. While the meaning is generally understandable, the lack of control over word formation and collocation significantly impacts the quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay relies heavily on simple sentence structures, and attempts at complex sentences often result in grammatical errors. There are frequent issues with subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'the rest of believe' and 'a person is working on a project with the person have different ides'. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with spaces missing before commas and periods. While the errors do not completely prevent the reader from understanding the message, they are frequent enough to cause difficulty and indicate a lack of control over complex grammatical forms.

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.