Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-01

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 6.0)

In recent years, younger people make up large proportion of the population than older people in some countries. I strongly believe that the advantages of this outweighs the disadvantages because of an economic boost and lower healthcare costs.

A higher percentage of youth in a nation's population contribute to an economic boost because of the availability of workers in all kinds of fields. Moreover, younger people adapt to technology easily even though it is ever changing whereas older people have a difficult time. For instance, senior citizens cannot understand how to use Google, ChatGPT and other technological changes which youth is using to solve tasks faster. Furthermore, the cost of healthcare reduces by a considerable amount because of reduced demand of old age homes and the need for treatment due to smaller proportion of senior citizens.

One of the main disadvantages of this phenomenon is that it can cause unemployment, if there is no demand for labor. Consequently, the crime rate and instability will rise causing unrest in the country. Additionally, an increase in the younger population will result in reduced numbers of experienced skill worker which can cause shortages in industries such as healthcare and education.

Despite the potential disadvantages, I believe the advantages outweigh

the disadvantages of having a larger proportion of the younger population. The economic benefits of a younger population are far too significant to ignore.

In conclusion, developing countries benefit the most from having a population that mainly comprises of younger people because of the economic boost and lower healthcare costs. Governments should have policies to maximize the economic benefit of having a higher proportion of the youth population.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. The arguments regarding economic growth and healthcare costs are relevant, though the development is somewhat superficial. For example, the claim that older people cannot use technology is a broad generalization that weakens the argument's sophistication. While the response covers both advantages and disadvantages, the discussion of the disadvantages—specifically the link between youth populations and unemployment—could be more deeply explored to reach a higher band. Overall, the ideas are relevant and the position is consistent, meeting the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0 level of development.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph has a central topic, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. Cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Furthermore', 'Consequently', and 'In conclusion' are used effectively to link sentences and ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally repetitive. The structure is sound, and the flow of information is consistent, which aligns well with the Band 7.0 descriptor for logical organization and the flexible use of cohesive devices.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task. The student uses some topic-specific terms like 'economic boost', 'senior citizens', and 'unemployment'. However, there is a lack of more sophisticated or 'less common' lexical items that would elevate the score. Some phrasing is slightly unnatural, such as 'younger people make up large proportion' (missing an article) and 'reduced numbers of experienced skill worker' (grammatical error in collocation). The range is sufficient to convey meaning clearly but lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors that persist throughout the text. For instance, 'younger people make up large proportion' should be 'a large proportion', and 'reduced numbers of experienced skill worker' should be 'skilled workers'. Additionally, 'the advantages of this outweighs' contains a subject-verb agreement error. These errors do not impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. The control of grammar is generally good, but the frequency of minor errors limits the score to a 6.0.

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