Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-14
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Some people say the main way to be happy in life is to have a lot of money. How might having a lot of money make people happy? What other things in life can make people happy?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
It is widely acknowledged that money brings happiness and ego plays a pivotal role in various aspects of our lives where some people say lot money make you happy. This essay will evaluate the perks and demerit of this statement.
beginning with the benefits, In today's world money becomes the most important thing for humans. Is is a bitter truth that society only respect you if you have money. Moreover, if you have enough money for your monthly expense. Than your doing good in life whereas if earn more than your monthly need that means you doing something nice for your life. Having a lot of money helps you to complete all your desire and needs. When you have good amount of money you get respect from everyone. For example:- There is a family in my hometown the are extremely rich and have lot of money due which they went to do shopping and having family dinner anytime when they want.
Nevertheless there are some drawbacks also such as person who earn a lot of money but still face medical problem like depression and anxiety. Which tends towards a mental illness. It's human psychology when you earn a lot of money you start thinking to invest more for the profit. Money also makes a person a arrogant and egoist. Which make you not wise man for the society. for example: There is a person in our city who are extremely rich but they do not respect anyone as because the are rich but people still honey-coated them. Just because they are rich and powerful person
According to my perspective ,the benefits of money contains more weight than its downgrades as Money helps you get a good life for your family and yourself but the person also make sure that never let money over your head as it makes a person a egoistic.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing how having a lot of money can bring happiness, such as fulfilling desires and gaining social respect, while also considering other factors like mental health and personality impacts. A clear position is presented throughout the essay, though the development of ideas tends to be slightly repetitive and lacks deeper elaboration in places. For instance, the example provided about the rich family in the hometown ('There is a family in my hometown the are extremely rich...') illustrates the point simply, but more detailed examples would elevate the discussion. Overall, the task is adequately addressed, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a recognisable introduction, body paragraphs addressing different viewpoints, and a conclusion. However, cohesion is frequently mechanical and sometimes faulty. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal linking between ideas is weak, marked by inappropriate sentence boundaries and fragmented structures, such as starting a sentence with 'Than your doing good' or abrupt transitions like 'beginning with the benefits, In today's world money becomes...'. Reference words and conjunctions are sometimes misused or omitted, which disrupts the logical flow. These features place the response firmly in the Band 5 category for cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'pivotal role', 'demerit', and 'honey-coated'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors throughout the text, such as 'lot money make you happy', 'do shopping', and 'makes a person a arrogant and egoist'. Spelling and word-form errors are also present, including 'demerit' instead of 'demerits' and 'than' instead of 'then'. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is not seriously impeded, which satisfies the requirements for a Band 5.5 lexical score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. Frequent errors occur in basic sentence structures, subject-verb agreement, and articles, such as 'money becomes the most important thing', 'the are extremely rich', and 'the benefits of money contains more weight'. Punctuation is often problematic, with incomplete sentences and run-on structures like 'Which tends towards a mental illness.' and 'for example: There is a person in our city who are extremely rich...'. Because errors are frequent and cause some difficulty for the reader without completely obscuring the meaning, a Band 5.0 is appropriate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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