Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-18
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)
I think money make people happy in there life because it plays a role that the can live there life according to their needs that make people feel happy and enjoy there dreams and desires. If we talk about the money is not only thing That feel people happy but some certain things like enjoying trips with there love ones and spending time with there family make them feel more good. Therefore, if we discuss about money is imporatnt in daily life nothing cannot works without money like some people earn good money for enjoy there lifestyle buying good clothes and other accessories that make them happy. Besides this, some individual like to do tourism to different country and places in the world so the need money for that thing to travel aboard the needed money for visa application and make budget for the trip that the are planning to travel and afterward the stay places and other meals expensive. For example, if take my example I like to travel different places as love to hike and do some outdoor activites as international student in canada first proitios are paying by schools debt my doint part- time. Afterwards, If I save some amount of money then me and my friends plan some trips so the recently trip was so much enjoyble when road trip to whistler british columbia that make us happy and also we spend more time with our friends afcourse we need money to travel but it make us happy. So, according to my point of view not only money can make you happy but you need company or group that can feel you happy by spending time and going to different places but we cannot say money do'not contribute in happiness it play a similar roles nothing cannot work without money it a essential need for everyone in there life.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both how money might make people happy and exploring alternative sources of happiness, such as spending time with family and travelling with friends. The position is clear throughout, and the ideas are supported with relevant personal examples, such as the road trip to Whistler, British Columbia. However, some ideas are slightly repetitive and lack deeper extension, and the overall development falls short of Band 7 requirements. Consequently, the response sits comfortably within Band 6, as it addresses all parts of the prompt with relevant ideas, though certain points remain under-developed.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The text demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement, and the writer attempts to guide the reader using cohesive devices such as 'Therefore', 'Besides this', and 'For example'. However, the paragraphing is extremely weak, as the entire response is presented as one massive block of text without logical paragraph breaks. Furthermore, referencing is sometimes unclear, and sentences tend to run together with mechanical transitions. This lack of structured paragraphing and occasional faulty cohesion pulls the score down to Band 5.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms like 'accessories', 'tourism', 'visa application', and 'outdoor activities'. There are, however, noticeable lexical errors and inappropriate word choices, such as 'paying by schools debt my doint part-time' instead of paying off school debt by doing part-time work, and 'meals expensive' instead of meal expenses. Despite these frequent vocabulary and word-choice errors, the meaning remains mostly clear to the reader, aligning well with the Band 5 descriptors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts some complex sentence structures, but these attempts are frequently faulty, leading to run-on sentences and grammatical errors. For instance, sentences like 'If we talk about the money is not only thing That feel people happy...' contain multiple structural and agreement errors. There are frequent issues with subject-verb agreement ('money make', 'nothing cannot works'), incorrect verb forms ('feel people happy'), and punctuation. While simple structures are sometimes handled adequately, the high frequency of grammatical errors causing difficulty for the reader points directly to a Band 5 performance.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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