Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

Nowadays, in some countries, the proportion of young adults is larger than that of older people. This condition has some kind of drawback, but I believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

One important disadvantage of this situation is that it can lead to a high unemployment rate. Because older people are stable in their job positions and businesses, there are limited positions in the job sector for a huge number of candidates. Moreover, so many students have recently completed their graduation, so a huge number of unemployed people are looking for jobs. For example, recently, the BBC published a news report about China's job market, where hundreds of candidates competed for one position. It means that right now there is a huge job crisis in China. However, I do not think this is a major disadvantage for young people as long as they make the leap to self-employment.

On the upside, there are several benefits of having this situation. One advantage is that young people can innovate modern technology. Because they tend to be more productive and intelligent than older people, they are likely to bring change and make a revolution in their country. For example, young adults have made so many AI tools that can easily complete hard work and also save time. I think this creates a great advantage for a country because modern technology offers people high standards of living.

In conclusion, although large numbers of young adults can mean high jobless rates among them, I believe this disadvantage is greatly outweighed by the advantage that they can drive an economy to grow.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of a population with a high proportion of young adults, and presents a clear overall position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are generally well developed and supported with examples, such as referencing a BBC news report about China's job market and mentioning AI tools. However, some arguments, such as the point about young people making the leap to self-employment, are introduced rather briefly and could have been extended further. Overall, the response meets the criteria for Band 6.5 to 7.0, and since marking is positive, it fits well within Band 7 for fully addressing all parts with a clear position.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response exhibits clear logical organization and progression throughout. The essay is divided into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, separate body paragraphs for disadvantages and advantages, and a concise conclusion. Cohesive devices are used effectively to guide the reader, such as 'One important disadvantage', 'Moreover', 'For example', and 'On the upside'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, ensuring that each main idea is grouped correctly. While some transitions are a bit formulaic, referencing is clear and overall cohesion is well managed, comfortably placing this response at a Band 7.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate to sufficient range of vocabulary for the task. Less common lexical items and phrases are attempted with some awareness of style and collocation, such as 'proportion of young adults', 'unemployment rate', 'self-employment', and 'high standards of living'. There are occasional inaccuracies or slightly unnatural word choices, such as 'completed their graduation' (graduated) and 'make a revolution' (revolutionise). However, these errors do not impede communication, and the vocabulary used is sufficient to convey precise meanings in most instances, aligning with the Band 6.0 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses ('Because older people are stable...', 'although large numbers of young adults can mean...'). There is a good variety of sentence structures throughout the response. Grammatical control is generally good; there are some minor errors or awkward phrasing, such as 'This condition has some kind of drawback' and 'so many students have recently completed their graduation', but these errors do not impede communication. The majority of simple sentences are error-free, and punctuation is handled adequately, supporting a Band 6.5 score, rounded to 6.5.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.