Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-21

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people think it's better to choose friends who always have the same opinions as them. Other people believe it's good to have friends who sometimes disagree with them.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

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

 

Student answer (Band 6.0)

Peers are a pivotal part of human's lives. Some people believe that individuals have to find friends who contain same mindset as they have, whereas others stated that friends should have different prospective in itself to be great. Thus, I will explain both the views with relevant examples and justifications in the forthcoming paragraphs.

On the one hand, less conflict and smoother relationships are encouraged with friends who have similar mentality. Due to having less conflicts, people could be easily share their though without fear of disagreement , eventually it would enhance relationship because they are aware from every details of each other and lead less stress level. In addition, same opinions prompt easy decision making. To illustrate, planning trip, exploring places for eating outside become straightforward as thoughts and values are matched.

On the other hand, companions with different mindset encourage several viewpoints which are important for personal and intellectual development. Differ ideas enable critical thinking and reduce the concept of narrow mindset as it offer an activity like debate on logic with divers peers to develop higher empathy. Thus, disagreement could be useful in manner of self-improvement. Moreover, friends with differ viewpoint able to correct another peers if they are making mistakes. Consequently, it provides a person who can not lead you on wrong path.

In my opinion, building a social circle with same mind set peers enables trust, similar values, beliefs ,cultural stands and provide a safe environment to remain stress-free from any kind of disagreement.

In conclusion, similar thoughts between friends offer benefits like lower conflicts and ease in decision building. Besides this, formation of social circle provides similar thoughts which is essential for creating trust. However, differ ideas are helpful in terms of self-improvement and fostering critical thinking.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention that similar-minded friends reduce conflict, the explanation could be more nuanced. Similarly, the section on differing viewpoints is a bit repetitive. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is fully extended with more specific examples or deeper analysis. Your position is clear, but the conclusion does not fully synthesize the two views as effectively as it could, as it largely repeats the points made in the body paragraphs rather than providing a final, cohesive reflection.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas. You use cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'In addition', and 'Consequently' to link your thoughts. However, some of the transitions feel a bit mechanical, and there are instances where the flow is slightly disrupted by awkward phrasing, such as 'aware from every details of each other'. The use of referencing is generally clear, but improving the variety of your linking words would help the essay flow more naturally and elevate the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'pivotal', 'intellectual development', and 'empathy'. However, there are several instances of word-choice errors and non-standard collocations, such as 'contain same mindset', 'differ ideas', and 'decision building'. These errors occasionally draw attention to the language rather than the content. To improve, focus on learning common collocations and ensuring that words are used in their correct grammatical form (e.g., using 'different' instead of 'differ' as an adjective).

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is good. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, such as 'human's lives' (humans' lives), 'individuals have to find friends who contain same mindset as they have' (who have the same mindset), and 'friends with differ viewpoint able to correct'. These errors are noticeable and sometimes impede the clarity of your message. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement, the correct use of articles, and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed with accurate verb forms.

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

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