Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-03

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people say that now is the best time in history to be living.

What is your opinion about this?

What other time in history would be interesting to live in?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

It is believed by many that modern life living is the best compared to existence many centuries back. This is primarily due to the advancement in technology that has made life easier, and also the cure to myriads of public health diseases that otherwise was a menace to the world in the past. However, there was a time in history before the industrial revolution where life was also quite interesting and that was in the 18th and 19th century, when monarchy was widely practiced across the globe.

Interestingly, the industrial revolution brought about alot of developments in many areas of our lives that has made life practically more enjoyable. The invention of airplane made it possible to traverse across the world, saving time and making international trade more feasible. In the past, the waterways was the major route to move from one continent to another. This led to people spending days, weeks or even months before getting to their destination.

Furthermore, revolution in the health sector saw a rapid increase in the development of medicines and therapies that have helped to save more lives and facilitate a healthy economy. For instance, the discovery of anti-retroviral drugs has reduced the incidence of deaths recorded due to the scourge of HIV/AIDS.

Nevertheless, there was a time in history when kings and emperors held sway. It was interesting reading the conquest of many empires like the Roman Empire that ruled the world. The sophistication of the arms and the organization of the people was something alluring.

Regardless, life in recent times is more fulfilling as progresses made in innovations have made people live healthier and more seamless compared to the past.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing why modern life is advantageous and also identifying an alternative historical period of interest, specifically the 18th and 19th centuries during the era of monarchies and empires. Your position is generally clear throughout the writing. However, some parts of the task are more fully developed than others, which places the response at this level. For instance, your points regarding technological and medical advancements are extended with reasonable support, such as mentioning anti-retroviral drugs and the invention of the aeroplane. On the other hand, the discussion about your chosen historical era in paragraph four is somewhat brief and under-developed, lacking the specific depth and extension seen in the earlier paragraphs. To reach a higher band, ensure that all parts of the prompt receive an equally thorough level of explanation, elaboration, and supporting evidence.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement, and you have made a clear attempt to organise your thoughts into logical paragraphs that each focus on a distinct theme, such as transport, medicine, and historical eras. There is a discernible progression of ideas from introduction through body paragraphs to a concluding summary. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader, using transitions like 'Furthermore', 'Nevertheless', and 'Regardless'. However, the cohesion sometimes feels a bit mechanical or basic, and referencing is not always completely smooth, pointing to the characteristics of this band level. To move further up, you could work on using a wider variety of more subtle cohesive links and ensure that paragraph transitions flow seamlessly from one idea to the next without relying on predictable signposting.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You display an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating topic-specific terms such as 'industrial revolution', 'international trade', and 'anti-retroviral drugs'. You also make clear attempts to use less common lexical items like 'myriads', 'traverse', and 'alluring'. While communication is clear and successful, there are some inaccuracies in word choice, form, and collocation that prevent a higher score. For example, phrases like 'modern life living' contain awkward redundancy, 'alot' is misspelled, and 'the waterways was' exhibits an agreement slip tied to vocabulary phrasing. To reach the next band, aim for greater precision in word selection, eliminate minor spelling errors, and ensure that less common vocabulary items fit natural collocation patterns perfectly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

Your writing displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating your ability to construct compound and subordinate clauses, such as in the sentence 'This is primarily due to the advancement in technology that has made life easier...'. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, but importantly, they rarely impede communication and do not obscure your meaning. Noticeable grammatical slips include subject-verb agreement issues, such as 'the waterways was' instead of 'were', and minor prepositional or article inaccuracies like 'the invention of airplane' missing a plural or article. To achieve a higher band, you should focus on increasing the frequency of error-free complex sentences and tightening your control over articles, singular/plural noun agreements, and parallel structures.

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

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