Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-05

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)

It is commonly seen that some individuals prefer to stay near to their birthplace for a long period of time. This essay will elucidate some reasons behind this approach along with its benefits and demerits in the following paragraphs.

A major reason that people spend most of their lives living close to their birthplace is an emotional touch that they build with that area. When a child is born, taken care by parents, nurtured in a society and make friends then by staying and growing in that areas a person feels an emotional bond with that city or town. Even by stepping out of home, when people in neighborhood knows him by his parent's name then an internal feeling gives him a connection with those neighbors. Additionally, by staying there during early years, a person get aware about the surroundings which provides them a convenience to go anywhere without taking an elder with them. To illustrate this point, a lost teenage child can easily find a way to home after living there for many years in childhood. Therefore, it provides their parents a support and security that their offspring will return home from school, market or playground.

The main advantage of living near to where they were born is numerous opportunities that they can get for their future. By having a full awareness about the facilities in that area it is completely possible for that person to find a reputed institution for higher studies, a better organization to work, and choose a specific area for business in their career later. For example, a young adult can make mind to go into a grocery business in future if demand of customers' needs is not getting fulfilled and that individual is looking to help people in society especially where he was born. It will allow him to gain trust of customers because people already know him since his childhood. On the other hand, it controls them to explore other areas when they decide to stay closer to their birth city for a long time. They neglect the earning opportunities that they can achieve by moving in developed cities.

To conclude, it is completely understandable that people prefer to live most of their lives in or close to their birthplace due to an emotional touch that allows them to select a field in advance for their career but they miss many opportunities that they could get by moving to other cities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt: reasons, advantages, and disadvantages are all covered. The ideas are relevant and generally well-supported, such as the discussion on emotional bonds and local familiarity. However, the development of the 'disadvantages' section is somewhat brief compared to the other sections. While the position is clear throughout, the essay would benefit from more nuanced exploration of the disadvantages, such as the potential for limited cultural exposure or professional stagnation, rather than focusing primarily on the loss of earning potential. Overall, the response is well-focused and meets the requirements of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'Additionally', 'To illustrate', and 'On the other hand' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally repetitive. For instance, the phrase 'that area' or 'that person' is used frequently, which slightly impacts the flow. Despite these minor issues, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task and allows for clear communication. There is an attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'nurtured', 'reputed institution', and 'emotional bond'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are occasional inaccuracies in word choice or collocation, such as 'make mind to go into' instead of 'decide to pursue' or 'controls them to explore' instead of 'restricts their ability to explore'. While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. Expanding the range of synonyms and more precise collocations would improve the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'when people in neighborhood knows him' (should be 'the neighborhood know') and 'provides their parents a support' (should be 'provides their parents with support'). Additionally, there are minor issues with phrasing, such as 'taken care by parents' (should be 'taken care of by parents'). While these errors are noticeable, they do not significantly impede the reader's understanding. A greater variety of error-free complex structures would be needed for a higher band.

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