Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-22

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 6.5)

It is widely acknowledge that people nowadays prefer to live closer to their bithplace. This is mainly because of their family, particularly their parents, which they consider as their support system. Additionally, they can be able to take care of their elderly parents. Furthermore, these people are of the opinion that they feel more comfortable if they stay in their birthplace. It can offer significant benefits, such as security and a fulfilling life.

One of the reasons why people prefer to be close their birthplace is because they want to be near their families. This is largely because they value their relationship with them, which consequently enables them to feel that profound sense of happiness since they can be a great source of support that is essential in everyday life. By choosing to live in the same place where they were born, people can maintain contact with them and they can still spend time with them despite having a demanding life due to work or further studies, thereby helps them not to feel pressured isolated. For instance, whenever a person feels overwhelmed because of their various life activities, they know that they are not alone in that situation that they have a family who are willing to listen to them and naviagtev that particular difficult situation, thus promoting a stronger family relationship.

I strongly believe that a person who chooses to stay in their birthplace can benefit from it. One significant factor would be the safety. This is due the fact that they have family nearby which can help them and at the same time they are already knowleadgable about the security of the place, such as the time where it is safe to dine out. Moreover, they have information about the techniques used by burglars. For example, since a person has been living their place for quite some time now, they have an idea on how to respond to unforeseen events. People who choose to live in their birthplace often experience contentment in life because it allows them to fulfill some of their goals, such as being able to take care of their parents as they grow old. It their way of giving-back for all their sacrifices.

On the other hand, there are are certain drawbacks associated with the decsion of staying in a person's birthplace. A signicant factor would be not being able to experience independency that is important to be self-sustaining. Another negative effect is not being to explore other places, try various things, and interact without others, which can strengthen character development since it enables people to discover themselves and learn from their mistakes.

In conclusion, although staying in a person's birthplace could have negative impacts, the benefits can outweight them because having a family nearby is better than having none, particularly it can promote a positive well-being that is vital to live life fully. If more people choose to live near their birthplace, it is highly likely that the number of people who are contented will likewise increase.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response7.0
Coherence and Cohesion7.0
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt successfully by identifying reasons why people stay near their birthplace, as well as detailing both the advantages and disadvantages. The position is clear throughout, and the ideas are extended and supported with relevant explanations and examples, such as caring for elderly parents and knowing local security patterns. Although there is some generalisation, the main ideas are well developed and cover the prompt fully, fulfilling the Band 7 criteria.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organised with clear progression throughout. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, reasons, advantages, disadvantages, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are used generally well, such as 'Additionally', 'Furthermore', and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally become slightly repetitive or clunky, for example in sentences like 'This is due the fact that they have family nearby which can help them', pointing to a Band 6.5 or solid Band 7. Overall, cohesion is clear and logical.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate and generally sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'profound sense of happiness', 'demanding life', and 'unforeseen events'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors scattered throughout the text, including 'bithplace' instead of 'birthplace', 'widely acknowledge' instead of 'widely acknowledged', 'knowleadgable' instead of 'knowledgeable', and 'decsion' instead of 'decision'. These errors do not impede communication, placing the lexical control firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'which they consider as their support system', 'they can be able to take care', 'due the fact that', and 'not being to explore other places'. Punctuation errors also appear, including missing articles and extra spaces. While communication is rarely impeded, the frequency of these grammatical slips prevents the score from reaching a Band 7.

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

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