Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-12

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 6.0)

A number of individuals spend most of their lives living in their hometown. While this behaviour can be due to their personal preferences and job opportunities, I believe there are numerous advantages and drawbacks close to their families.

One of the main reasons is personal choice to spend their lives in their hometown. Parents provide emotional support and guidance throughout their lives, which prevents loneliness. If people stay nearby their loved one, they will more likely to visit them regularly. Another factor is that people find a secure stable job in their hometown. Because of this reason, a large number of people continues to stay at the place they were born. For instance, someone who finds job nearby home prefers to stay in the same location rather than moving to a new place. Despite busy schedules, people can visit their loved ones more frequently.

The main benefit for people living in their hometown with their families is convenience. People might choose to live in a familiar environment that is accessible to variety of modern facilities. In this way, they will not have to travel to another cities, while staying in touch with their parents. One downside of people living in the same place for a long time is that it restricts their exposure to other cultures, trends and the environment. For example, people who prefers to spend most of their time in their hometown often lacks knowledge about different cultures and people.

In conclusion, several people prefers to stay most of their lives in their hometown because of personal choice. The major advantage and drawback is convenience and limits their exposure to unique traditions respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both questions: it gives reasons for staying near one’s birthplace, including family support and local employment, and identifies an advantage and a disadvantage. The position is clear, and the examples about visiting loved ones and remaining in a familiar environment are relevant. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained. For instance, the claim that local facilities make hometown living convenient is not illustrated with a specific facility or situation, while the cultural disadvantage could be developed by explaining how limited exposure affects people’s opportunities or outlook. The conclusion also reduces the reasons to personal choice and does not recap the employment factor. Developing each main idea more evenly would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on reasons, a paragraph comparing an advantage and disadvantage, and a conclusion. Ideas generally follow a sensible order, and linking expressions such as “Another factor,” “For instance,” and “In conclusion” help guide the reader. Cohesion is sometimes mechanical, however, and some references are unclear. “Because of this reason” repeats the preceding link rather than showing a precise relationship, and “In this way” does not clearly identify which benefit it refers to. The introduction’s phrase “drawbacks close to their families” also makes the relationship between the ideas difficult to follow. Use more precise referencing and connect each example directly to the point it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for discussing family, work, and place, with relevant expressions such as “emotional support,” “secure stable job,” and “exposure to other cultures.” The writer also attempts more formal phrasing, including “accessible to variety of modern facilities,” though this is not fully natural. Some word choices and collocations reduce precision: “drawbacks close to their families” does not express the intended idea clearly, and “another cities” is an inaccurate form. “Unique traditions” is also less precise than the intended contrast between local and unfamiliar cultures. These errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, but more natural collocations and precise terms would strengthen the response. Aim to learn useful phrases as complete units rather than translating them word by word.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “Parents provide emotional support and guidance throughout their lives, which prevents loneliness” and a conditional structure beginning “If people stay nearby.” Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “they will more likely to visit” needs “be” after “will,” and “a large number of people continues” has a subject–verb agreement error. There are also errors in “people who prefers” and “often lacks,” where plural subjects require plural verbs, as well as “another cities,” which needs a singular noun after “another.” Greater control of agreement, verb patterns, and articles would improve accuracy while retaining the current range of structures.

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

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