Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-07-26

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 6.5)

Some individuals often stay at a place where they were born. Although, living in a same place doesn't give much more exposure to outer world, people may prefer to live with their close ones.

Despite, most of the people prefer to explore the world there are some individuals who would prefer to stay at a same place rather than exploring outside. One of the reasons can be that they just love the place where they were born. My great grandfather was also that type of person, he never preferred to live outside as he believes that he is son of the soil where he was born.

One of the merits for the individuals who have been staying close where they were born is that they have feeling of togetherness, as they know every single person residing there. Also, for outsiders it's beneficial because they cannot get as much information as they get from the locals. Once I visited Annapurna Base camp and even map was showing it was ten hours away but one local who was residing there by birth pop up and showed me shortcut and I reached much sooner than other strangers who were travelling with me before.

Although there are some merits of living in motherland there are some obvious drawbacks too. People who stay inside the box cannot get proper information about outer world and they will ultimately become the frog inside the well. Some old persons always think that the world is same everywhere.

In conclusion, despite some drawbacks it is obvious that local residents know the place much more than anyone do which is fruitful for every immigrant and new residents.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt: reasons for staying in one's birthplace, and the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. The ideas are relevant, such as the emotional connection to one's roots and the practical knowledge locals possess. However, the development is somewhat limited. The discussion on disadvantages is brief and relies on metaphors like 'frog inside the well' without fully exploring the implications of limited exposure. To improve, you should expand on the consequences of this lifestyle, such as limited career opportunities or restricted cultural perspectives, to provide a more comprehensive analysis.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. There is a progression of ideas from the reasons for staying to the pros and cons. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly awkward, such as the use of 'Despite,' at the start of the second paragraph, which is grammatically incorrect in that context. Referencing is generally clear, but the transition between the personal anecdote about the Annapurna Base camp and the broader argument could be smoother. Overall, the structure is functional but lacks the sophisticated flow required for a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'togetherness,' 'residing,' and 'fruitful.' However, there are instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'living in a same place' (should be 'the same place') and 'son of the soil' (which is an idiom, but used slightly awkwardly here). The phrase 'frog inside the well' is a direct translation of an idiom that may not be universally understood in English. To reach a higher band, focus on using more natural collocations and avoiding direct translations of idioms from your native language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation. For example, 'Although, living in a same place...' contains an unnecessary comma after 'Although,' and 'My great grandfather was also that type of person, he never preferred...' is a comma splice. There are also issues with articles ('the outer world') and subject-verb agreement. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on mastering basic sentence construction and punctuation rules to improve accuracy.

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