Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-08

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people spend most of their lives living close to where they were born.

What might be the reasons for this?

What are the advantages and disadvantages?

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

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Many People prefer to live large part of their lives residing near to where they took birth. Prime reasons for why this happens along with its merits and demerits are going to be discuss in this essay.

First and foremost reason is emotional attachment. People usually donot want to leave their hometown as they have spent their precious moments with their loved ones and gradually they get emotionally attached with those places. Moreover, fear of going into new environment also hinder some people to leave their current places. Rise in inflation, plays a crucial role in decision making for people who think to start their new life from beginning at different place.

Remained connected to their roots and culture is the biggest advantage of staying in your own country rather to migrate to a different nation. Sometimes it is not easy to take all the family members to a different place while moving or it is not always possible to meet with them frequently if some of them stay behind, therefore, individuals prefer to stay where they born throughout their lives in order to maintain a strong bond with their loved ones.

the fact is undeniable that to gain something, we need to lose something. In order to grow or succeed in life, people sometimes need to migrate to new places to explore new and variety of options. In modern world, many people travel to various places where they experienece new culture and creativity which they can bring to their own hometown or country if they go out of their comfort zone.

Overall, both advantages and disadvantages has their own importance which should be taken care.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the reasons for staying near one’s birthplace and discuss both an advantage and a disadvantage. Emotional attachment, fear of a new environment, and the difficulty of moving family members are relevant points. However, the discussion is uneven: the advantages are explained more clearly than the disadvantages, and the final paragraph shifts towards the benefits of moving elsewhere rather than directly explaining the disadvantages of remaining close to home. The opening also promises to discuss the topic but does not establish a clear overall position. To strengthen the response, state the main trade-off explicitly and develop the disadvantage with a direct example, such as fewer career or educational opportunities in a familiar area.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate body paragraphs and a conclusion, and ideas are generally grouped by topic. Linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “therefore,” and “Overall” help signal relationships. However, progression is not always clear: the paragraph beginning “the fact is undeniable” discusses the advantages of moving, so its connection to the stated disadvantage of staying is indirect. Some transitions also feel formulaic, and the conclusion merely says that both sides matter without summarising the main points. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each example explicitly to the question—for instance, explain how limited opportunities in one’s hometown constitute a disadvantage.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary to discuss the topic, including “emotional attachment,” “inflation,” “culture,” “migrate,” and “comfort zone.” These choices make the main ideas understandable, and there are attempts at more formal phrasing. Some expressions, however, are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “took birth,” “precious moments,” “start their new life from beginning,” and “new and variety of options.” Spelling errors such as “experieniece” also reduce accuracy. Aim for natural collocations and precise word forms: for example, use “were born,” “begin a new life,” and “a wider range of opportunities.” This would make the vocabulary more fluent and appropriate to an essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “as,” “while,” and “if,” and the overall meaning is usually clear. However, errors in agreement, verb forms, articles and sentence construction occur across the response. Examples include “reason … are going to be discuss,” “fear … hinder,” “Remained connected … is,” and “both advantages and disadvantages has.” The long sentence beginning “Sometimes it is not easy” also joins several ideas in a way that makes the structure difficult to follow. Practise checking subject–verb agreement and verb forms, and divide long sentences when they contain several separate points. More consistently accurate complex sentences would improve control.

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