Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-19

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)

Some individuals, spend most of their lives staying near where they were born. This essay will discuss the reasons for this, alongside the pros and cons.

Most individuals opt to stay close to areas they were born. This is because, it gives them a feeling of safety and familiarity. Most Individual's birthplace is where they have known their whole life. It is a place that gave rise to most formative years of their lives. It is also a place where they have made lifelong friends and have held so many versions of their life. This gives rise to the feeling of familiarity. Several persons hold on to this feeling of familiarity and safety their birthplace provides. The advantage of this is they do not struggle with loneliness. Areas around one's birthplace is filled with friends, families and neighbors. These group of persons add joy and meaning to life. This eliminates any feeling of loneliness from an individual's life. Furthermore, individuals staying close to their birthplace have more stability in their lives. This is due to having the same routine, interacting with the same persons and walking around familiar roads. For instance, a teenager who stays close to their birthplace, have more stability than a teenager who is always constantly moving around.

An individual residing close to their birthplace, also has its disadvantages. These persons struggle to interact with the world and are to make new memories. Leaving one's place of birth after a while allows people to see the world from a different perspective. They are forced to develop new skills and acquire more survival instincts. This is unable to happen when an individual stays in their birthplace most of their lives. Additionally, new memories and experiences are gotten when people move and change locations. Sticking to the same routine and living in the same place for a long time, prevents this. For example, an individual who is constantly travelling and changing area of residence, will gain new memories and experiences.

In conclusion, residing near your birthplace, most of your life reduces loneliness and gives stability. Moreover, it does not help people interact and make new memories.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt: reasons, advantages, and disadvantages are all covered. The ideas are relevant, such as the sense of safety and stability as advantages, and the lack of new perspectives as a disadvantage. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat repetitive and lacks depth. For instance, the discussion on 'loneliness' is mentioned twice in the first body paragraph. To reach a higher band, the arguments should be more distinct and supported with more specific, illustrative examples rather than general statements. The position is clear throughout, but the overall development remains at a basic level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, and there is a logical progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Furthermore', 'Additionally', and 'In conclusion', which help guide the reader. However, some of the referencing is slightly mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'this' to start sentences. The flow between sentences is generally smooth, but the connection between the ideas within paragraphs could be more sophisticated. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different aspects of the prompt, which contributes to the overall coherence of the piece.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There is some repetition of basic terms like 'birthplace', 'individuals', and 'lives'. While the student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary, such as 'formative years' and 'survival instincts', the range is limited. There are also some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'These group of persons' (should be 'This group of people') and 'are gotten' (a weak, informal construction). To improve, the student should focus on using more varied synonyms and more precise collocations to express their ideas more naturally.

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 grammatical errors. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues like 'Most Individual's birthplace is' (should be 'Most individuals' birthplaces are') and 'a teenager... have' (should be 'has'). There are also punctuation errors, such as unnecessary commas after 'individuals' and 'because'. While the errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. A greater focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and punctuation would significantly improve the accuracy of the writing.

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

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