Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-07-28

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries, people are now living longer than ever before. Some people say an aging population creates problems for governments. Other people think there are benefits if society has more elderly people.

To what extent do the advantages of having an aging population outweigh the disadvantages?

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

Student answer (Band 6.5)

In many nations, the longevity of individuals is more than before, due to this, it's often argued that elderly population creates issues for authorities, whereas others believe that senior citizens bring advantage to society. While there are several advantages and disadvantages.

One major advantage of having senior population in society is that they have experience of life and work. That is, seeking help from elderly can be a benefit to an individual in certain aspects. For example, this can be seen as in families, when younger ones struggle in specific task, their grandparents always help them figure out the solutions. Another benefit worth mentioning is that they help maintain family stability. In other words, they play a vital role in families as they provide childcare and support to working parents. For instance, if in a family both parents work, then grandparents can take care of their grandchildren providing work-life balance and also strengthening bonds among family members. Grandparents offer guidance and emotional support to the individuals of the family.

Nevertheless, there are certain drawbacks associated with the aging population in society that it can put a pressure on authorities to pay pensions to elderly after their retirement which eventually leads to financial pressure. Another significant disadvantage is that due to rise of deadly and chronic diseases among elderly can gradually increase healthcare demand and costs, in order which some certain families with low income may not be able to afford expensive healthcare.

In conclusion, elderly share guidance to shape the future of youngsters and also strengthens family ties. However, increasing older population often lead to financial stress to the governance and contribute to increasing prices of healthcare and demand.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the benefits and the drawbacks of an aging population. However, the position is not clearly stated in the introduction; the essay merely notes that there are advantages and disadvantages without explicitly stating which side outweighs the other. While the ideas are relevant, the development is somewhat limited. For instance, the point about healthcare costs is mentioned but not fully explored in terms of how governments might mitigate these issues. To reach a higher band, ensure your introduction clearly outlines your stance and provide more depth in your supporting arguments.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'In other words,' 'For instance,' and 'Nevertheless' are used to link ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. The referencing is generally clear, though the opening sentence is a run-on, which slightly disrupts the initial flow. Overall, the progression of ideas is coherent, and paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the advantages from the disadvantages.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common collocations, such as 'family stability' and 'work-life balance.' However, there are instances of imprecise word choice and minor errors, such as 'governance' used instead of 'government' and 'in order which' which is grammatically awkward. The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but more precise and varied vocabulary would be needed to reach a higher band. The repetition of 'elderly' and 'society' also limits the lexical variety.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('the' aging population), subject-verb agreement issues ('elderly population creates'), and awkward phrasing ('due to rise of deadly and chronic diseases'). Punctuation is generally functional, but the first sentence is a comma splice. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on sentence construction and article usage would significantly improve the accuracy of your writing.

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