Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-18
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)
Nowadays, few individuals decides to stay at their birthplace and surrounding rather than step outside the boundaries. This might because they want to stay connected to their roots. There are many pros and cons behind this approach. I will be discussing more with relevant examples in upcoming paragraphs.
To begin with benefits that come along with living in own birthplace. Firstly, an individual feels connected to their roots. To elaborate, they can relieve their childhood memories and stay close to their parents and individuals whom they know form early age. For example one of my friends is living at same place where he was born from 25 years and he is familiar with all places around and still got all his close friend from primary school. Secondly, an individual is not comfortable in stepping outside of the box or afraid of doing so. To explain it, few people find it hard to do new things and settle at new places or make new connections with strangers which all comes along when you move to other place.
On the other hand, there are demerits as well. To begin with, person who remain inside close circle kind of left behind in their professional lives. To explain it, if one is staying in small town they might have limited opportunities and has to figure out one form that
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses all parts of the prompt, including reasons, advantages, and disadvantages. However, the essay is incomplete, ending abruptly in the middle of a sentence, which significantly impacts the development of ideas. The word count is below the 250-word minimum, which is a major constraint. While the ideas presented are relevant, they are not fully extended or supported due to the unfinished nature of the text. To improve, you must ensure you complete your arguments and provide a concluding paragraph to summarize your position, as the current structure lacks a clear ending.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay uses basic cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Firstly', and 'On the other hand' to organize ideas. However, the progression of ideas is interrupted by the incomplete final paragraph. Paragraphing is present, but the abrupt ending makes the overall structure feel disjointed. Referencing is generally clear, but the lack of a conclusion prevents the essay from achieving a logical flow throughout. To improve, focus on ensuring each paragraph has a clear topic sentence and that the essay concludes with a summary of the main points discussed.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. Phrases like 'stay connected to their roots' and 'stepping outside of the box' are used, but there is little attempt to use more sophisticated or academic vocabulary. There are also some minor collocation errors, such as 'living at same place' instead of 'living in the same place'. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary related to migration, career development, and social psychology.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'few individuals decides' (subject-verb agreement), 'might because' (missing verb), and 'whom they know form early age' (preposition error). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the grammatical control is inconsistent. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and ensuring that your complex sentences are constructed accurately. Proofreading for small errors like missing articles or incorrect prepositions will help improve your score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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