Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-29

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

At the present time, the population of some countries includes a relatively large number of young adults, compared with the number of older people.

Do the advantages of this situation outweigh the disadvantages?

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

Student answer (Band 6.5)

These days, the number of young adults is surging worldwide. While some advocate this demographic situation might cause severe infrastructural strains and environmental degradation, I believe that the advantages, such as continuous skill adaptation and economic resource allocation, significantly outweigh the disadvantages.

On the one hand, there are several important reasons why this situation has some potential drawbacks. One possible reason is the situation will put an immense infrastructural burden on the nation. A significant number of young people shift to the urban area for better opportunities, which ultimately causes huge infrastructural strains. This demographic shift leads to overcrowded cities in future, and creates job shortage. Lack of public transports causes massive environmental degradation, such as air pollution, or sound pollution. In the countryside, labour shortage occurs in the cultivation season. Consequently, the local economy is disrupting. For example, Bangladeshi farms are experiencing severe labour shortages these days as a majority of the youth shift toward big cities like Dhaka or Chittagong for a better lifestyle.

On the other hand, if the massive number of youth can convert them into productive man power, this will cause significant advantages. They can do it by continuous skill adaptation and guarantee sustainable tax sources for the nation. They can work anywhere, such as factories, industries because they do not need extra medical care compared to the elderly people. As a result, government can save their fund by reducing this extra health care money, and then use it for infrastructural development. For instance, a huge number of youth from Bangladesh are moving to the Middle East to work, and they account for the maximum foreign remittance for the country.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that although this demographic shift has some significant drawbacks, converting them into useful man power can outweigh the disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, presenting a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, such as the economic benefits of youth remittances and the infrastructural challenges of urbanization. However, some points are slightly under-developed; for instance, the link between youth and 'continuous skill adaptation' is mentioned but not fully explained in the context of the advantages. The argument regarding the elderly and healthcare costs is a strong point, but the essay could benefit from more nuanced exploration of the 'disadvantages' beyond just infrastructure and labor shortages to reach a higher band. Overall, the position is consistent and well-supported.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the two sides of the argument. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', 'Consequently', and 'For instance' are used to guide the reader through the argument. While the progression is generally smooth, some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, although the connection between the 'youth' and 'productive man power' could be more tightly linked to the preceding sentences to improve flow. Overall, the structure supports the argument well.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally appropriate for the task, with some good topic-specific collocations such as 'infrastructural strains', 'environmental degradation', and 'foreign remittance'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'convert them into productive man power' (where 'transforming them into' or 'harnessing their potential' would be more natural) and 'save their fund' (which should be 'save funds'). The range is sufficient to convey ideas clearly, but the use of less common lexical items is somewhat limited. Improving the precision of word choice would help elevate the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There is good control over basic grammar, and complex structures are attempted, such as 'While some advocate this demographic situation might cause...'. However, there are recurring errors, particularly with articles ('the urban area', 'the countryside') and pluralization/agreement ('public transports', 'government can save their fund'). While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher band. Punctuation is generally accurate, but the sentence structure could be more varied to demonstrate greater flexibility.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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