Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-26

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)

Many people live their whole life in the same place where they were born.There are several reasons for this trend,and it has both advantages and disadvantages.

One main reson is family attachment.People feel safe and comfortable with their parents,relative and childhood friends.For example,In Pakistan,many people live in a joint family system.So they dont want leave their family.Another reason is financial issues.Moving to a new city is very expensive because of high rent and living cost.Also, some people are afraid of new places,new jobs and new cultures,so they prefer to stay in their hometown where everything is familiar.

There are many advantages to living close to your birthplace.First,you get full support from your family in difficult times.Second,you know all the places schools and hospitals,so your life is easier and less stressful.You als have many old friends who can help you.

Howevewr there are some disadvantages too.if aperson never leaves his hometown ,he miss better job and education opportunities in big job.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address the reasons and both sides of the question: family ties, financial barriers and familiarity are given as reasons, while family support and missed opportunities are presented as advantages and disadvantages. The Pakistan joint-family example helps make one reason more concrete. However, the ideas remain brief and are not sufficiently explained or supported. The disadvantage is especially underdeveloped: “he miss better job and education opportunities” gives only one consequence, without explaining how staying limits these opportunities or offering an example. The response also does not meet the required minimum length, so several points that could develop the answer are missing. Expand each main idea with explanation and a relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph explaining reasons, a paragraph on advantages and a final paragraph on disadvantages. Sequencing words such as “One main reason,” “Another reason,” “First,” “Second” and “However” help readers follow the main points. This coherent structure supports the argument, but the progression is quite mechanical because ideas are mostly listed rather than linked and developed. Some punctuation and spacing also interrupt the flow, such as “born.There” and “trend,and.” The final disadvantage paragraph is very short, leaving the discussion unbalanced. Develop the points in fuller paragraphs and use linking phrases that show relationships, such as cause and result, rather than relying mainly on numbered transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “family attachment,” “financial issues,” “joint family system,” “familiar” and “opportunities.” These choices show some range beyond very basic wording. However, the vocabulary is often general or repetitive, and several spelling or word-choice errors reduce accuracy: “reson,” “als,” “Howevewr” and “big job” (where “large cities” or “major employment centres” seems intended). Phrases such as “living cost” and “full support” could also be expressed more naturally and precisely. Aim to use accurate collocations and vary repeated words such as “people” and “places.” Proofreading for spelling will help ensure that your meaning is consistently clear.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You communicate the main message using mostly simple sentences and some attempts at more complex structures, such as “Moving to a new city is very expensive because of high rent and living cost” and the conditional idea beginning “if a person never leaves his hometown.” However, grammatical control is uneven. Examples include “their whole life” instead of “their whole lives,” “they dont want leave” instead of “they don’t want to leave,” and “he miss” instead of “he misses.” Articles and sentence boundaries also need attention, as in “if aperson” and the run-together opening “born.There.” These errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the overall argument, but more accurate verb forms, agreement, articles and punctuation are needed. Practise checking each sentence for a complete, correctly formed clause.

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