Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-12

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 6.0)

Few individual prefer to stay at where they are born, while others prefer to explore new places. This essay will discuss both advantages and disadvantages in detail.

To begin with, the major advantage of living where people are born is having strong family support system. Individuals do not have to make new friends in order to avoid loneliness. Moreover, people do not have to find new housing or living on rents. Majority of people have their own homes at where they are born and brought up. As a result, it is cost-effective and more convenient. Another benefit is that they do not have to start their lives from scratch. For example, I have a friend who immigrated from USA to Canada and is now starting his life from literally zero. Thus, people should stay at where they are born to avoid any unwanted stress and burden of immigration.

On the other hand, one significant disadvantage of staying where people born is lack of exploration of new places and environment. They miss the opportunity of visiting to a new places and exploring them. Another drawback is they will have lack of cultural knowledge. These individuals will face issues when staying with people who have different cultural values. For example, many people cannot get along well with people who have different cultural beliefs simply because they lack cultural knowledge. Therefore, moving to different countries and exploring new places will give a person a better chance of growth and new gaining knowledge.

In conclusion, although living at a same place will give comfort and less stress but exploring new places will give a person an opportunity to grow as an individual.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt: reasons for staying, advantages, and disadvantages. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the reasons for staying are limited to family support and cost, and the disadvantages are somewhat repetitive regarding 'cultural knowledge'. To reach a higher band, you should provide more nuanced explanations. For example, when discussing the disadvantage of staying in one place, you could elaborate on the 'stagnation of professional opportunities' or 'limited exposure to diverse perspectives' rather than just repeating the concept of cultural knowledge. The position is clear, but the depth of analysis needs to be expanded to fully satisfy the requirements for a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with clear paragraphing. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Moreover', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' to guide the reader. However, the flow within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical. For example, the transition between the benefits of family support and the financial benefits could be smoother. Additionally, there are some minor issues with referencing, such as 'at where they are born', which is grammatically awkward and affects the flow. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that pronouns refer clearly to their antecedents would enhance the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'cost-effective', 'immigrated', and 'cultural values'. However, there are several instances of unnatural word choice and collocation errors, such as 'living on rents' (should be 'paying rent'), 'at where they are born' (should be 'where they were born'), and 'new gaining knowledge'. These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of your expression. To improve, focus on learning common collocations and avoiding the repetition of basic phrases like 'new places' and 'people'. Expanding your range to include more precise academic vocabulary would be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with prepositions and articles (e.g., 'stay at where they are born', 'visiting to a new places', 'living at a same place'). Subject-verb agreement is generally maintained, but the consistent misuse of 'at' and 'to' in these contexts indicates a lack of control over basic grammatical structures. To achieve a higher band, you need to reduce these frequent errors and demonstrate more consistent control over complex sentence forms, ensuring that your punctuation and grammar are accurate throughout the text.

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

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