Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-11-03

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)

Few individuals believe that it is good option to have friends whose opinions are commom as them but other think that it is aslo better choose to have friends whose thoughts are not similiar. I will discuss both views in the upcoming paragraph with relevant examples and giving mu own opinion about these points.

Having a friends whose ideas are similar has several postive points for a person because common ideas help them to agree on any topic as well as help them to build strong bond with each other. Similar thoughts leads them good commmunciation and better understanding between them because both of them having same perspective about situation. Due to this, It is easy to resolve difficult situation in the short period of time without making any conflicts.

Not similar mindset friends has aslo postive sides as they will have different opinions about the situation which leads to proper disscusion with merits and demerits of the situation. While discussing the topic, it aslo help them to improve their communciation skills and improving their weak point and helpful to find their strength which help them to each other in hard time.

To conculde, it is detable topic whether it is good or not having friends with same opinions believed by few people. Having friends with similar and different mindset in the life play important role as I disscussed both of points with their own postive sides. My opinion is that it is good have both of them in life because they can help us in difficulut with best soltion in the hard time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both views and give a clear personal position in the conclusion: you favour having friends with both similar and different opinions. The two body paragraphs also offer relevant reasons, such as shared perspectives helping friends resolve conflicts and differing views encouraging discussion. However, these points are mostly asserted rather than explained or illustrated, and the promised “relevant examples” are not actually provided. The discussion of disagreement is less developed: you mention improving communication and recognising strengths, but do not show how this happens in a specific situation. To strengthen the response, explain one consequence of each type of friendship and add a brief, relevant example. Your position is present, but could be stated more directly in the introduction and maintained more clearly throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction, one paragraph for each view, and a conclusion that returns to your opinion. This makes the main line of discussion easy to follow. You also use basic linking expressions such as “because,” “Due to this,” and “To conclude.” At times, however, connections are mechanical or unclear. For example, “While discussing the topic, it also help them…” does not clearly identify who “them” refers to, and the conclusion repeats the idea that both kinds of friends have positive sides without adding a clear synthesis. Use pronouns with unmistakable references and connect each reason to its result more explicitly. A more focused topic sentence and a concluding sentence in each body paragraph would make progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “opinions,” “perspective,” “conflicts,” “discussion,” and “strength.” This is enough to communicate the general ideas, but the range is limited and several expressions are inaccurate or repetitive, which sometimes makes the reader work to understand your meaning. Examples include “opinions are common as them,” “not similar mindset friends,” and “help them to each other.” Spelling errors such as “commom,” “postive,” and “disscusion” are also noticeable. Build a bank of natural phrases for comparing viewpoints and describing friendship, and check spelling and collocations during revision. More precise wording would help you express the same ideas clearly without relying repeatedly on “similar,” “different,” and “help.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some longer sentences and use clauses to explain reasons, as in “Similar thoughts leads them good communication and better understanding… because both of them having same perspective.” However, the response relies mainly on basic sentence patterns, and errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction are frequent enough to make some ideas difficult to follow. For example, “Having a friends” has an article–plural mismatch, “Similar thoughts leads” has subject–verb disagreement, and “both of them having” lacks a finite verb. The final sentence, “it is good have both of them,” also needs a grammatical structure such as “it is good to have both.” Practise checking each sentence for a clear subject and finite verb, then review articles and agreement before adding more complex 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.