Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-17

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)

Although there has been an tremendous increase in international travelling for work and immigration, seme people people still spent most of their lives near to areas they were born. This essay will cover the factors behind it, and additionally we will narrate its ultimate benefits and drawbacks to individuals.

There are multiple factor behind staying near to places where someone born, but some of the major ones are the family structures, employment or business setups, and individuals own hesitation to travel. For instance, people love to stay nearby their loved ones, as it has been noticed in both extended families and nuclear families. It helps both family structure to maintain their relationships alive with their loved ones. Moreover, an established family business also is the main factor compelling many individuals to stay nearby area where they were born. For instance, no one would like to get out of their comfort zone so easily if the livelihood is directly to a family business which is being run by the same family since centuries. Contrary to this, there have been a group of people who just do not want to travel to new places, therefore, they prefer to stay nearby the places they were born.

This approach of staying near to birth place has many advantages; the most prominent ones includes some ones own peace of mind by facing less competition to the world around. Furthermore, please enjoy the perk of staying near to their families and friends which ultimately helps their mental well being, and avoid the due depression and anxiety.

As such individuals enjoy great benefits by staying nearby birthplaces, some experts believe that it does not help individuals broaden their perspective around many cultural, social and economical aspects. It also hamper the search of some students to pursue studies abroad. In the present multinational culture, real growth demand more diverse thinking and way of living.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The candidate successfully addresses all parts of the prompt, exploring the reasons why people stay close to their birthplaces alongside both the advantages and disadvantages. The introduction clearly outlines the essay scope, and each body paragraph is dedicated to a distinct prompt requirement. Reasons such as family structures, established family businesses, and personal reluctance to travel are clearly articulated. The advantages, including mental well-being and reduced stress, and the disadvantages, such as narrow perspectives and limited career growth, are also adequately supported. While some ideas could be extended further for a higher band, the overall treatment of the task is solid and meets the criteria for Band 6.5, leaning towards Band 7 given the clear positioning throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a clear overall arrangement with logical paragraphing. Each paragraph addresses a specific part of the prompt, ensuring the reader can follow the progression of ideas from reasons to advantages and disadvantages. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'For instance', 'Moreover', and 'Contrary to this', though some referencing is slightly mechanical or awkward, such as 'this approach' or referencing 'some ones own'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, and despite minor cohesion glitches, the essay maintains a coherent flow that supports readability.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The candidate demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common items such as 'nuclear families', 'comfort zone', and 'broaden their perspective'. However, there are noticeable lexical and spelling errors that detract from precision, such as 'tremendous' instead of 'tremendous' correctly spelled, 'seme people people' instead of 'some people', and grammatical word-choice slips like 'individuals own hesitation' and 'direct to' instead of directly linked to. Despite these inaccuracies, the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main points clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writing includes a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at varied structures such as concessive clauses starting with 'Although' and relative clauses. However, frequent grammatical and mechanical errors persist throughout the text, including typos ('seme people people', 'factor' instead of 'factors'), subject-verb agreement issues ('an established family business also is', 'some ones own'), and prepositional errors ('near to areas' instead of 'near areas'). While these errors do not impede overall communication, they prevent the essay from achieving a higher band score due to their frequency.

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