Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-14
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 is true that most of the individuals prefer to leave in birth place rather than living other places. Although there are some reasons associated with this phenomenon, i believe that some drawbacks associated with this happening.
On the one hand, there are several reasons attached with this trend. First and foremost, most of the valuable membories are attached with birth place that is why they want to live there from long time because they have grown there. Along with this, their family members also live there and they want to spend time with them and share the day happening with each other as a result, they do not feel lonliness and stress.So, people want to live in same plaace where they were born.
On the other hand, i believe that some downsides to live birth place due to many reasons. Firstly, if they do not move another place, they would deprived to get higher education and high paid jobs in turn of which they would neither qualify education nor job so they can not earn huge money that is why it can become hardships to complete their basic needs. Apart from it, They can deprived to know about another culture and labguage if they live same place because they have no opportunities to meet other people as a consequence they do not learn moral skills such as team work, communication and problem solving. In addition to it, they do not become independent. To explain, when they live their family, they have no need to take any responsiblity including laundry, paying bills so they always depend their family.
To conclude, while strong bonding with family and attached membories with birth places are main root of this phenomenon, i opine that it brings some negative approach for people for upcoming life .
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing reasons why people stay near their birthplace, as well as the advantages and disadvantages. The student has a clear position, stating that while there are reasons for staying, there are distinct drawbacks. Ideas are generally relevant, covering emotional bonds, family support, and the downsides regarding career opportunities and personal independence. However, some ideas are a bit repetitive and under-developed, particularly in the discussion of advantages, which focuses almost exclusively on family and memories. Examples are mostly generalised rather than drawn from specific personal experience. This places the response comfortably at Band 6.0, as all parts of the task are addressed, but development could be more thorough and extended.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay has a clear overall arrangement with a logical four-paragraph structure. Introduction and conclusion are present, and the body paragraphs use basic signal words such as 'First and foremost' and 'On the other hand'. However, cohesion is often mechanical and sometimes faulty. For instance, the transition 'in turn of which' is awkward and unidiomatic, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'when they live their family' instead of 'live with their family'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate reasons from advantages and disadvantages, but the flow between sentences can feel disjointed due to repetitive phrasing and run-on structures. Overall, these cohesive and organizational features align best with Band 5.5 to 6.0; a Band 6.0 is awarded as the progression is generally clear despite minor awkwardness.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'phenomenon', 'memories', 'independent', and 'hardships'. However, there are frequent noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations throughout the text, such as 'leave in birth place' instead of 'live in their birthplace', 'valuable membories' (spelling error), 'high paid jobs', and 'moral skills' instead of 'soft skills' or 'interpersonal skills'. The word 'deprived' is used incorrectly as a verb without passive construction ('they would deprived to get'). While the student communicates their ideas effectively, the frequency of word-choice and spelling errors prevents the response from reaching Band 6.5, making Band 5.5 the most appropriate descriptor.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, using subordinating conjunctions like 'although', 'that is why', and 'if'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in verb forms, prepositions, and articles. Examples include 'most of the individuals prefer to leave in birth place', 'i believe that some drawbacks associated with this happening' (missing verb), 'they can not earn huge money', and 'they always depend their family' (missing preposition). Punctuation errors are also present, such as missing capitalization for 'i' and spacing issues around commas and periods ('stress.So'). Because errors are frequent and occasionally cause minor strain for the reader while complex structures are often faulty, the response fits the Band 5.0 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.