Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-07
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)
It has been observed that most of the people spend their whole lives where they were born. The resons could be family attachments, security and financial considerations. While this could be beneficial in some scenios but people could miss career advancement opportunities.
The biggest advantages for people choosing to stay in their birthplace is family commitments and emotional attachments. Some individual prefer to live a qualty life with their family members and look after their elder family members. At the same time, they are being emotionally attached to place where they born, spent their childhood and have a good connections with the neighbors and long term friends. Nevertheless, moving to a different place could involves lots of financial and social responsibilities. For example they have to build everything from scratch from a living place to their network of close friends.
Staying in one place could have some career and personal experiences drawbacks. If people move to a new city, the chances of their growth are increased. As they are more exposed to different opportunities. living in a new place also make them independent.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| 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, identifying reasons for staying in one's birthplace as well as advantages and disadvantages. However, the essay is significantly under the 250-word minimum requirement, which severely limits the depth of development. Ideas are introduced but not sufficiently extended or supported with detailed examples. For instance, the mention of 'financial and social responsibilities' is a good starting point but lacks the necessary elaboration to reach a higher band. Because the response is only 183 words, it fails to meet the basic length requirement, which restricts the ability to fully develop the argument.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into three paragraphs, which provides a basic structure. There is a logical progression of ideas, moving from reasons to advantages and then to disadvantages. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and limited. Transitions between sentences are occasionally abrupt, and the paragraphing is underdeveloped due to the short length of the text. While the reader can follow the writer's train of thought, the lack of sophisticated linking words and the brevity of the paragraphs prevent a more fluent flow of information.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There are several spelling errors, such as 'resons' instead of 'reasons', 'scenios' instead of 'scenarios', and 'qualty' instead of 'quality'. These errors are noticeable but do not impede overall communication. The range of vocabulary is somewhat repetitive, relying on basic terms like 'good connections' and 'different place'. To improve, the student should focus on using more precise collocations and ensuring accurate spelling of common academic vocabulary.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the accuracy of the writing. Examples include 'most of the people spend' (should be 'most people spend'), 'they are being emotionally attached' (should be 'they are emotionally attached'), and 'could involves' (should be 'could involve'). Additionally, there are punctuation and article usage issues throughout the text. While the meaning remains clear, the frequency of these errors indicates a lack of control over complex structures, which limits the score in this criterion.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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