Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-28

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)

It is believed that some people prefer to spend most of their lives at their birth place. This essay will discuss the possible reasons behind this trend along with advantages and disadvantages.

To commence with, there are plenty of reasons behind this occurrence. Firstly, they have a family responsibility. Due to the fact that they do not want to leave their parents, children and relatives. For instance, it is often seen that many individuals reject job offers for which they have to leave the home. Furthermore, tradition and culture is one of the primary reasons behind this issue. For some individuals, it is really difficult to adapt new culture and tradition. Due to the fear of new culture and language, they prefer to live where they were born. Moreover, another possible reason is emotional attachment. Folks feel more connected and comfortable to their hometown.

On the one hand, there are some advantages of living in home town. Firstly, you can live with your family members. Living with family reduces 70% stress. Consequently, this thing makes the bond strong. Furthermore, people do not have to learn new cultures, traditions or languages. Moreover, they can enhance the economy of local area.

On the other hand, there are few disadvantages too. Firstly, by living in the same place, people cannot explore the different culture and tradition. Furthermore, folks could miss career opportunities. Moreover, they may become overly dependent on family and local community.

In conclusion, although there are few advantages for living at birth place , disadvantages cannot be neglected completely. People should make a choice by keeping all factors in their mind.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt: reasons, advantages, and disadvantages. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For example, the claim that living with family 'reduces 70% stress' is an unsupported generalisation that lacks depth. While the essay covers the requirements, the arguments could be extended with more specific examples or nuanced explanations to reach a higher band. The position is clear, but the overall structure feels a bit list-like, particularly in the body paragraphs where points are introduced with simple 'Firstly' and 'Furthermore' markers without sufficient elaboration.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'To commence with', 'Furthermore', and 'On the one hand' are used to link ideas. However, the use of these devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive. Some transitions feel forced, and the referencing is occasionally weak, such as the phrase 'this thing' in the second body paragraph, which is imprecise. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different sections of the response, which helps the reader follow the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and sophistication. The student relies on basic terms like 'folks', 'things', and 'good/bad' concepts. There are some inaccuracies in collocation, such as 'adapt new culture' (should be 'adapt to a new culture') and 'at their birth place' (should be 'in their birthplace'). While the meaning is always clear, the range of vocabulary is limited, and there is little attempt to use less common lexical items or idiomatic expressions that would demonstrate a higher level of proficiency.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'tradition and culture is' (subject-verb agreement), 'connected and comfortable to their hometown' (preposition error), and 'there are few advantages' (should be 'a few'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor issues with spacing around commas. While the errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from reaching a higher band. A greater variety of error-free complex structures is needed.

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

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