Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-26

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)

Globally, life expectancy is increasing, resulting in more people living longer than ever before. While many argue that an ageing population creates economic burdens and high healthcare expenses for governments, others believe senior citizens offer immense benefits to society through family support and strong volunteer networks.

In my opinion these positive contributions far outweigh the drawbacks.

In many regions of the world, a huge number of people are living more than ever before. An ageing population poses severe economic and healthcare challenges for the governments. Specifically, state budgets are strained by the need to provide pensions to a vast number of retirees. Additionally, public health expenditures invest heavily in constructing elder-care facilities and specialized training for geriatric medical staff. For instance, when a state redirects its funds toward constructing elder-care infrastructures and financing pensions, it often faces significant obstacles in sustaining overall growth. Consequently, this financial strain can lead to an increasingly unstable economy.

On the other hand, it is widely believed that an older demographic offers significant advantages to society. Senior citizens are highly valued for providing crucial family support and forming robust volunteer networks. This is because grandparents offer reliable childcare and mentorship, enabling parents to focus entirely on their professional responsibilities. Furthermore, due to their deep social roots, retired individuals can easily mobilize communities and spearhead essential volunteer initiatives For instance, grandparents frequently provide vital emotional stability and mentorship to grandchildren when parents are occupied in professional commitments, Simultaneously, their extensive local networks enable retired individuals to efficiently mobilize community members for various charitable and volunteer initiatives. Therefore, the presence of older generations has a profound impact on society, fostering a brighter future. By serving as positive role model, senior citizen plays a vital role in guiding and inspiring the younger generations.

To conclude, although a growing elderly demographic presents undeniable economic and healthcare challenges, the social benefits far outweigh these drawbacks. Older individuals acts as the essential pillars of the community, serving as inspiring role models and fostering a stronger society

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response fully addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the economic and healthcare challenges of an aging population as well as the social benefits of family support and volunteer networks. The candidate presents a clear position throughout, stating in the introduction that the positive contributions outweigh the drawbacks and reiterating this stance in the conclusion. Ideas are well developed and extended with relevant explanations and examples, such as how grandparents offer reliable childcare and mentorship. The reasoning is sound and directly answers the prompt's question regarding the extent to which advantages outweigh disadvantages. Therefore, the performance aligns well with the Band 7 descriptors, as all parts of the task are addressed with a clear position and well-supported ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates a clear logical organization and progression throughout. Information and ideas are arranged coherently, with a logical transition from the introduction to the body paragraphs addressing drawbacks and benefits respectively, and a clear concluding summary. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, with each body paragraph focusing on a distinct theme. Cohesive devices such as 'Consequently', 'On the other hand', and 'Furthermore' are used with general flexibility, though there is some minor repetition or mechanical referencing in places. Overall, the structural flow supports readability and meets the standards for Band 7.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The writer uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision, successfully employing less common lexical items such as 'geriatric medical staff', 'spearhead', 'robust volunteer networks', and 'profound impact'. While there are occasional inaccuracies in word choice or collocation—for instance, 'people are living more than ever before' instead of longer, and minor pluralization errors like 'positive role model' and 'senior citizen plays'—these errors do not impede communication. The lexical range is adequate for discussing abstract social issues, placing this performance solidly within the Band 6.5 to 7.0 range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The essay features a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and conditional-style reasoning. There is good control of grammar and punctuation overall, although a few persistent errors occur, such as article omissions or singular/plural mismatches (e.g., 'Older individuals acts as the essential pillars'). However, these errors are non-systematic and do not impede communication. Frequent error-free sentences are present throughout the text, supporting a Band 7 score for grammatical accuracy and structural variety.

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