Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-19

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 7.5)

Many people choose to spend their entire lives living close to their birthplace due to a combination of emotional comfort, social safety nets, and economic stability. While this lifestyle offers deep security, it can also limit a person's perspective.Reasons for StayingStrong Social and Family Ties: Many individuals stay to remain close to their aging parents, siblings, and extended family. This proximity allows them to fulfill family duties and maintain daily emotional connections.Cultural and Environmental Comfort: Growing up in a specific area creates a sense of belonging. People understand the local customs, accents, weather, and social norms, which removes the stress of adapting to a new environment.Job and Economic Stability: Taking over a family business, farming ancestral land, or utilizing local professional networks often provides a reliable income without the risk of starting over in an unfamiliar market.AdvantagesBuilt-in Support System: Living near family and lifelong friends means having an instant network for childcare, emergencies, and emotional support.Financial Savings: Relocating to a new city or country is highly expensive. Staying local often allows people to inherit property, share living costs with family, and avoid high city rents.High Psychological Well-being: The familiarity of one's hometown reduces anxiety and fosters a powerful sense of identity and community roots.DisadvantagesRestricted Career and Personal Growth: Local job markets may lack high-paying opportunities or diverse career paths, forcing people to settle for roles below their potential.Limited Cultural Perspective: Staying in one place can lead to a narrow worldview, making it harder to understand and tolerate different cultures, lifestyles, and ideas.Social Stagnation and Lack of Privacy: In small or familiar communities, gossip spreads quickly, and personal boundaries can blur, making it difficult to reinvent oneself or escape past reputations

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response fully addresses all parts of the prompt, exploring the reasons why people stay close to their birthplace as well as providing clear advantages and disadvantages. The ideas are well-developed and supported with relevant examples, such as taking over a family business, utilizing local professional networks, and the risk of gossip in small communities. The writer maintains a clear focus throughout, organizing the essay logically to answer every component of the task prompt. The perspective is consistent and well-articulated, meeting all the requirements for a Band 8 level in this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Ideas are structured systematically using headings and bullet-like formats, which makes the layout extremely easy to follow, although standard paragraphing is slightly unconventional. Cohesive devices and referencing are managed effectively, ensuring that transitions between the reasons, advantages, and disadvantages are smooth. Each section clearly relates back to the central theme, and paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately to group related ideas together.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

The student exhibits a wide, fluent, and flexible range of vocabulary appropriate for general and academic contexts. Words and phrases such as 'social safety nets', 'ancestral land', 'built-in support system', and 'social stagnation' demonstrate a strong grasp of less common lexical items with good awareness of collocation. There are only occasional minor inaccuracies, but word choice remains precise overall, allowing the writer to convey subtle nuances regarding psychological well-being and career limitations effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.5

The text contains a wide range of sentence structures, seamlessly mixing simple and complex forms. The majority of sentences are error-free, showcasing a strong command of grammatical rules, clauses, and punctuation. For instance, complex constructions like 'Taking over a family business, farming ancestral land, or utilizing local professional networks often provides a reliable income' demonstrate excellent control. Only very occasional minor slips occur, which never impede communication.

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