Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-01

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)

Money has always been a topic of discussion in almost every phase of life. Some people argue that having more money leads to a happy and luxurious life whereas on the other hand, a large number of peope believe that joy and peace are most prominent. I completely agree that there are many things in life which are way more significant and indispinsable than having financial independence in a long run.

We cannot completely say that life is possible without money. A large group of people reckon that materialistic life makes you dumb and lazy due to financial resources available to them at all times. As a result, these people do not work or have any ambitions or career plan to chase in their life. Furthermore, it is also belived that rich individuals lacks creativity and innovation when compared to those who work hard and search for ways from wide variety of sources to solve problems in their lives. In addition to this, having a goal or life-plan keeps a person motivated to become aware of their strengths and work on developing skills which gives them a sense of purpose and happiness in life. Some people find comfort and mental poise when do the things which makes them happy which does not involve any kind of money or material.

Habing said that it should also be noted that true happiness is earned when it is achieved with hard work and honesty. Many parts of the society still encourages younger generation to choose the career which they are good at or which they like to pursue. By doing so, it do not only gives them real meaning to life but also excel in a certain field with more enthusiasm and contentment.

In conclusion, it can be said that true happiness and comfort comes with non-materialitic things and people can find joy in life without money by doing things they like.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt only partially, which accounts for its current standing. While the writer attempts to answer both parts of the question by discussing how money impacts life and exploring alternative sources of happiness, the ideas remain limited and under-developed. For instance, the discussion on how money can make people lazy or lack creativity is introduced, but it lacks sufficient explanation or specific examples. Furthermore, the position taken in the introduction is slightly contradictory or confusing regarding financial independence. To move to a higher level, the writer needs to explore all parts of the prompt more fully, ensuring that every main idea is extended with relevant reasoning and concrete examples rather than relying on generalized statements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some overall organization to the essay, and the four-paragraph structure shows an attempt to separate the introduction, body points, and conclusion. However, the progression of ideas lacks clarity at times. Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes mechanical or inaccurate, such as 'Habing said that' or transitioning between paragraphs in a way that disrupts the natural flow. Additionally, referencing is occasionally unclear, making it hard to track what pronouns like 'these people' precisely refer to. To achieve a stronger flow, the writer should use a wider variety of cohesive ties more naturally and ensure that each paragraph builds logically upon the previous one without abrupt shifts in focus.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, providing a minimally sufficient range to communicate the main arguments. The writer attempts some less common items such as 'financial independence', 'indispensable', and 'contentment', but these attempts are occasionally marred by word-choice errors, spelling mistakes ('peope', 'belived', 'lacks' plural agreement, 'Habing'), and awkward collocations like 'materialistic life'. Fortunately, these errors do not severely impede communication. To reach the next level, the writer should expand their lexical repertoire, pay closer attention to spelling and word forms, and use less common vocabulary with greater precision and natural collocation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simpler patterns alongside attempts at complex forms that are frequently faulty. There are noticeable errors in grammar throughout the text, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('rich individuals lacks', 'it do not only gives'), article omissions, and prepositions ('in a long run'). These errors require some effort from the reader to parse the exact meaning. To improve this area, the writer needs to increase grammatical accuracy, ensure proper agreement and verb forms, and practice constructing complex sentences with greater control over punctuation and syntax.

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