Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-19

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 contemporary times, population became the huge problem for many countries. People are living longer than even before due to better health facilities and lifestyle. While an aging population does create some challenges for governments, I strongly believe that advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

On the one hand, there are several drawbacks of having more elderly people. The main problem is financial burden on government. The state has to spend more budget on pensions, healthcare services and nursing homes.For example, age related diseases like arthritis, diabetes and stroke requires long term treatment which puts strain on public resources. Despite that, government face shortage of tax payers as well as of workers in economy.

However, the benefits of having larger elderly population are much significant. Firstly, older people are a treasure of wisdom and experience. They have worked for years and can mentor young people. For instance, many older doctors are teaching practical skills to fresh graduates and this kind of knowldge transfer is invaluable for society.

Secondly Elder people make a huge contribution to families and communities.Many grandparents look after their grandchildren, which gives parents space to go to work and save money. Morever, they strengthens family values and social bond.They often do volantary work, charity and help in community centres.An aging population also creates new job opportunities in healthcare, fitness and elderly care sectors.

In conclusion, although an aging population increases government spending, I believe its advantages in terms of experience, social bonding and family support are much great. Therefore, the advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction: you believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and the conclusion restates this view. You address both sides with relevant points, including public spending and workforce pressures as drawbacks, and older people’s experience, family support, and new care-sector jobs as benefits. The examples about experienced doctors and grandparents help make the benefits concrete. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained: for instance, the link between an aging population and a shortage of taxpayers or workers could be clarified, and the job-creation point is not developed with an example. More explanation of how these benefits compare with the financial burden would make the argument more fully supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on disadvantages, two paragraphs on advantages, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “On the one hand,” “However,” and “In conclusion” makes the direction of the argument easy to follow. The progression from government costs to social and family benefits is generally logical. Some connections are less smooth or precise, though. “Despite that” does not clearly show how the workforce and taxpayer shortage relates to the preceding point about spending, and “Secondly” begins a new point without punctuation. Within the benefits paragraph, several ideas are packed together. Use clearer links between claims and explanations, and make each paragraph’s central point more distinct.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “financial burden,” “public resources,” “mentor,” “practical skills,” and “job opportunities.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and there is some attempt to use less common language. However, noticeable spelling, word-form, and collocation errors limit precision: “knowldge,” “volantary,” and “Morever” are misspelled, while “the benefits … are much significant” and “advantages … are much great” are unnatural. Phrases such as “spend more budget” and “save money” are also imprecise in context. Build accuracy by checking spelling and learning common word partnerships, such as “allocate more funding” and “make a significant contribution.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex forms, including a concessive opening (“While an aging population does create…”) and a relative clause (“which gives parents space to go to work”). Meaning is generally understandable, but some errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction remain. For example, “diseases … requires” should use a plural verb, and “government face” needs a singular subject-verb form. “They strengthens” also has incorrect agreement, while “Secondly Elder people” needs punctuation and an article or a more natural noun phrase. There are also run-on or missing-space issues between sentences. Review subject–verb agreement and sentence boundaries, while continuing to use varied sentence patterns.

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