Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-27

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)

Nowadays people in many countries are now living longer than ever before. Few people believe that an aging population creates problems for governments while others think there are benefits if society has more elderly people. Although, this statement has certain drawbacks, I strongly believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

One major advantage of elderly people is experience. They have various knowledge and experiences because they have lived for so many years. Another benefit is guidance. Old aged people always guide society in right direction towards development. They have survived for ages which makes them confident and independent. In addition to this, they have decison-making skills which we rarely find in today's generations. For example, we see a house with grandparents which is quite happy and settled because they got proper direction and guidence. Like this, the country and society also needs supervision.

However, there are some disadvantages to consider. The biggest concern is mental illness. As people grow older, they start feeling lonely creating health issues like; depression and anxiety. They will lack family support and care which may sometimes lead to suicide. For instance, we been seeing the news that elderly people are more likely to be victim of mental health problems because they don't have anyone to share their feelings.

In concluion, while old aged people has certain drawbacks like mental health issues and suicide, its benefits in terms of experience and guidance are more important. Therefore, I believe the advantage of having an aging population outweigh the disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task and takes a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Main ideas are presented, such as the value of experience and guidance versus concerns regarding mental health and suicide. However, these ideas tend to be somewhat generalised and under-developed. For instance, the discussion on guidance lacks specific elaboration beyond general statements. The examples provided, such as 'we see a house with grandparents which is quite happy', are anecdotal and simplistic. While the prompt is sufficiently addressed to achieve a competent score, the development of ideas aligns closely with the Band 6 descriptor where relevant ideas are presented but remain somewhat undeveloped.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, and separate body paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct themes. However, cohesion within and between sentences is occasionally faulty or mechanical. For instance, the transition 'Like this, the country and society also needs supervision' is awkward, and referencing in phrases like 'because they got proper direction' is imprecise. Cohesive devices are somewhat limited and repetitive, such as the frequent use of addition markers ('In addition to this'). These mechanical elements prevent the response from reaching a higher band level.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'decision-making skills', 'supervision', and 'mental illness'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'Old aged people' instead of 'elderly people', and spelling/morphology errors like 'decison-making' and 'guidence'. Furthermore, phrases like 'survived for ages' are unnatural. While communication is not impeded and the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, the presence of frequent collocation and word-choice errors places this performance firmly at Band 5.5 to 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Although, this statement has certain drawbacks, I strongly believe that...'. However, punctuation errors are present, including an incorrect comma after 'Although'. There are also grammatical inaccuracies and agreement errors, such as 'old aged people has certain drawbacks' (plural subject with singular verb) and 'we been seeing the news that elderly people are more likely to be victim' (missing articles and auxiliary verbs). Despite these errors, the structures are varied enough and communication is generally maintained, supporting a Band 6 score.

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