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)

Human being's have a tendency to feel nostalgia for certain things, especially the place they're born or grew up in. They often choose to live closer to that area as it holds an emotional value. This essay will state the reasons for this occurrence with their positive and negative impacts.

The primary reason for this occurrence: birth place holds a deep value in person's life as it reminds them of their childhood, memory to live with parents, siblings or if they've lived in a nuclear family then their grandparents as well. Those memories are enough for a grown up to smile. Secondly, Personal touch is what keeps them close to the place. For Instance, we often observe whenever somethings goes wrong in our life we wish to go back to our parents house; it's not going to solve our daily chaos but it will definitely provides you a mental peace.

Moreover, there are several advantages such as It calms your nerves and gives you a feeling of serenity. In day-to-day chores of life we often forget to take care of our mental health. Staying close to your birthplace reduces your anxiety and upsurge feelings of satisfaction. However, there's a drawback which might outweigh the optimistic behaviour. i.e. if someone's childhood was traumatic and they spend most their time with toxic upbringing, then staying close to the place you were born becomes an headache for you. Those past memories constantly haunts you will never allow you to move on. In this case, it's highly recommended to go far as much as you can.

To recapitulate, living nearby to the place you born has several reasons. One of them is personal touch, it also has a major advantages while the drawbacks can outweigh if someone had childhood full of nightmares.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt: reasons for staying near one's birthplace, and the advantages and disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, such as emotional attachment and mental peace, as well as the counter-argument regarding traumatic upbringings. However, the development is somewhat limited. The explanation of the 'reasons' is a bit repetitive, and the 'advantages' section could have been expanded with more specific examples beyond general mental health. The conclusion is quite brief and does not fully synthesize the points made. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is fully extended with more depth and clearer logical progression.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the reasons to the pros and cons. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Moreover', 'For instance', and 'To recapitulate'. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are issues with referencing and sentence-level cohesion. For example, the phrase 'this occurrence' is used repeatedly, which makes the flow feel a bit stiff. Additionally, some sentences are fragmented or lack smooth connectivity, such as the transition between the discussion of advantages and the introduction of the drawback. Improving the variety of linking words would enhance the overall flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'nostalgia', 'serenity', and 'upsurge'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'upsurge feelings of satisfaction' (should be 'increase' or 'boost'), 'becomes an headache' (should be 'a headache'), and 'haunts you will never allow' (missing a conjunction). While the meaning is always clear, the range is somewhat limited, and the errors in word formation and collocation prevent a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('Human being's have', 'it will definitely provides'), punctuation errors (missing commas, incorrect use of 'i.e.'), and article usage. Some sentences are grammatically incomplete or awkward, such as 'memory to live with parents'. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to be noticeable throughout the text. To improve, the student should focus on basic subject-verb agreement and proofreading for punctuation and article consistency.

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

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