Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-18

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)

In this modern era, the birthplace has become an increasingly significant priorty for those who want live in a place for long term. The subsequent paragraphs will explore the reasons for this trend, including its benefits and drawbacks with particular emphasis on them before presenting the conclusion.

To begin with, people are emotionally connected with there roots where they want to continue follow the rituals of their tradition and culture. This can also help them to live comfortably with their family, childhood friends and society. For instance, Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala lived in his village after he became famous all over the word as a singer. Further more, they think if they will be start living away then their children's can be detached from their roots.

On the one hand, individuals have been getting merits of living nearby their birthplace to establish their businesses, their other careers and in various ways to become successful. For example, a lot of famous local businesses are growing up as time passes, with the help of their wider known locality and friend circle. Moreover, living away from their birthplace can be stuck them into the various types of hardships and other obstacles.

On the other hand, there are some drawbacks of it which people do accept commonly, such as limited opportunities to spread their tradition, culture, businesses and a lot other things, which cannot be fixed later even after regrets. As like, countless local brands are not able to convert their success to an international brand and always get called as local company.

In conclusion, people like to live nearby their birthplace where they are surviving without facing financially hardships, even can get support from their natives in numerous ways. However, they tackle with limited opportunities but still people have no complaints from their living place. So it is everyonce personal decision, which they change any time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing reasons why people stay near their birthplace, alongside the advantages and drawbacks. A clear position is maintained throughout the essay. The reasons provided, such as emotional connection to roots and family support, are relevant and extended with examples, like the mention of the Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala. However, some ideas feel slightly repetitive or under-developed, particularly when discussing business limitations. While the arguments are generally clear, a bit more depth in exploring the socio-economic factors would elevate the response. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, fitting the criteria for a solid Band 6.5 or Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is generally coherent with a clear overall structure, utilizing an introduction, body paragraphs addressing reasons, advantages, and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used to separate different aspects of the prompt. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and awkward. Transitional phrases like 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand' are misused structurally, as the text confusingly sets up disadvantages in both sections rather than contrasting advantages against disadvantages. Furthermore, referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'drawbacks of it which people do accept commonly'. Progression is somewhat hindered by these organizational confusions, placing this criterion at Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common words and phrases such as 'emotionally connected', 'rituals of their tradition', and 'international brand'. However, there are notable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'significant priorty' (priority), 'all over the word' (world), and 'financially hardships' (financial hardships). Spelling errors also occur, such as 'priorty' and 'everyonce' (everyone's). While meaning is generally conveyed, these frequent slips and awkward phrasings like 'get called as local company' prevent the essay from achieving a higher band, reflecting the characteristics of Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in structure with conditional and relative clauses. However, grammatical accuracy is weak throughout the text. There are numerous errors in article usage, prepositions, and subject-verb agreement, such as 'want live' instead of 'want to live', 'there roots' instead of 'their roots', and 'can be stuck them into' instead of 'can trap them in'. Additionally, punctuation and sentence boundaries are occasionally mishandled. Because these errors occur frequently and occasionally impede smooth reading, the grammar score aligns with Band 5.0.

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

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