Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-19

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 6.0)

In many parts of the world, people are now having longer lives than ever before. Some people believe having an ageing population can bring some issues for governments. Others think there are benefits of having more elderly people in society.

An ageing population creates many advantages. The first one is an experienced workforce and knowledge trnasfer. Older people have extensive professional and life experience. They can pass valuable knowledge, skills and pratical advice to younger generations. For example, I usually talk to my grandfather whenever I feel like there is no solution for the problems I am facing. He always gives me useful advice which lighten my mind. Also, elderly people help with maintaining traditions as they are the ones who can share and teach younger generations about traditional activites, how to preserve and show gratitude to our ancestors.

Next, elderly people bring greater social stability. Older generations can contribute to our society through volunteering, mentoring or supporting their families. As we can see, nowadays, there are many elderly people participate in some volunteering projects in hospitals to take care of patients, or help to look after their grandchildren. This can strengthen relations between generations.

Last but not least, an ageing popution brings the growth of "silver economy". An ageing population creates greater demand for healthcare, tourism, leisure activities, and products designed for older consumers. This can create new occupations and business opportunities.

Although there are still some disadvantages related to higher heathcare costs or greater financial burden on younger generations, I believe that an ageing population brings more benefits and creates a better society.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The candidate addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of an aging population, ultimately taking a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Main ideas regarding the workforce, social stability, and the silver economy are presented and supported with reasons and examples, such as personal experience with a grandfather and volunteering in hospitals. However, some arguments tend to over-generalize and could be further extended to reach a higher band level. For instance, the discussion on traditions and the silver economy is somewhat brief. Nevertheless, the requirements of the task are adequately met, corresponding to a Band 6.5 or solid Band 7 descriptor where all parts are addressed and a clear position is maintained throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a clear overall progression with logical paragraphing. Each body paragraph focuses on a distinct advantage of an aging population, starting with the workforce and traditions, moving to social stability, and concluding with the silver economy. Cohesive devices such as 'The first one', 'For example', 'Also', 'Next', and 'Last but not least' are used to structure the text, although some devices feel slightly mechanical or formulaic. Referencing and paragraphing are managed sufficiently, but paragraph two covers multiple ideas (experience, knowledge transfer, and traditions) which slightly disrupts the thematic flow. Overall, the organization is coherent and easy to follow, fitting well within the Band 6.5 to 7 range.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, including topic-specific terms like 'ageing population', 'healthcare', 'volunteering', and 'silver economy'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but some inaccuracies in word choice and spelling occur, such as 'trnasfer' instead of 'transfer', 'pratical' instead of 'practical', 'lighten my mind' instead of 'ease my mind', and 'popution' instead of 'population'. Furthermore, phrases like 'having longer lives' are slightly unnatural compared to 'living longer'. Despite these occasional errors and spelling slips, communication is never impeded, demonstrating the characteristics of a Band 6 lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures reasonably well. There is good control over basic sentence structures, but several grammatical errors and awkward phrasing persist. For example, 'many elderly people participate' should be 'many elderly people participating' or 'participate in'. Other minor issues include article usage and preposition selection. Complex structures are attempted, but they occasionally contain minor flaws. However, these errors rarely impede communication and the punctuation is generally sound. This performance aligns closely with the Band 6 descriptors for grammatical range and accuracy.

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

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