Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-13

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

It is very common for people to change both their habits and their opinions as they get older.

Do you agree or disagree?

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

Student answer (Band 6.5)

It is undeniable that different people have different opinions and habits. While some people argue that it is normal for individuals to change their habits and opinions as they are getting more experienced, other people do not. However, I completely agree with this notion as people will learn so much through out their lives, and I will explain my reasons in the upcoming paragraphs.

To commence with, there are a plethora of reasons why people change their habits and opinions. The first and foremost reason is their knowledge increases with time. To explain it more clearly, when a person is child, he/she possess very limited knowledge. Hence, his or her opinions about things are generous or limited. Nevertheless, after some time, they get to know more knowledge about those things which results in changing their habits and opinions. For exmaple, mostly children feel that their parents are stricter, however with time, they understand that parents were not stricker but they are trying to make their lives better.

Another reasons can be lessons they learn during their lives which force them to change their habits and opinions frequently. To illustrate an example, a person will get bloated if he always sits after a heavy meal. But, after some time, when he learns his mistake, he changes his habits and starts to walk after meal. On the other side, some people stay struck with their habits and opinions because they are not willing to change their habits even after facing some problems.

To conclude, although some people do not change their habits or opinions due to not try to understand the lesson or their stubborness does not allow it, I still believe that it is normal for many people to update their habits and opinions because their knowledge increase over the time and some mistakes leads them to change their habits and opinions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, taking a clear and fully supported position that people do indeed change their habits and opinions as they age. The candidate extends ideas by exploring two main reasons: increasing knowledge over time and learning life lessons through personal experience. These ideas are supported with relevant examples, such as children changing their views on strict parents and people learning to walk after heavy meals to avoid bloating. Although some explanations are slightly informal or repetitive in phrasing, the core task is fully addressed with relevant, well-developed ideas, aligning well with the Band 7 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay presents a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, moving from a well-structured introduction to body paragraphs initiated with standard discourse markers like 'To commence with' and 'Another reasons can be', and concluding with a clear summary. Cohesive devices are used adequately, though some transitions feel slightly mechanical or formulaic. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Referencing is generally clear, though minor cohesive slips occur, placing the response comfortably within the Band 6 to 7 range, leaning towards a solid 6.5 or 7 due to clear overall progression.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with some attempts at less common lexical items such as 'undeniable', 'plethora', 'generous' (used in an unusual sense here), and 'stubborness'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'they get to know more knowledge' instead of 'acquire more knowledge', 'stay struck' instead of 'stuck', and spelling errors like 'exmaple' and 'stubborness'. These inaccuracies prevent the response from achieving a higher band, but communication is never impeded, which is characteristic of Band 6 performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'Another reasons can be', 'when a person is child', 'some mistakes leads them', and 'knowledge increase over the time'. Despite these recurring errors in grammar and punctuation, the structures attempted show ambition, and the errors only occasionally distract the reader rather than impede overall communication, fulfilling the key criteria for Band 6.

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

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