Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-18

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people say the main way to be happy in life is to have a lot of money. How might having a lot of money make people happy? What other things in life can make people happy?

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

 

Student answer (Band 6.5)

A number of people believe that having good financial background makes them feel happy in their life. In order to meet the demands of family, individual should have good salary budget for raising their standard of living. Whereas every time money cannot buy happiness.

On the one hand, having a lot of money helps the people to bring happiness in their life, because, it allows them to live luxury life, spend money on international trips and buy amenities what they want without thinking about their budget. Therefore, wealthy status significantly improve their living standard and offers them support during tuff situations rather than getting stress. Moreover, rich people get more respect and forward their helping hands to needy individuals, which build their professional image across the local community and makes them popular in the society. Apart from that, substantial money promotes the mankind to provide quality education to their kids, best medical treatment and buy their dream car, house or branded accessory and enjoy each moment of their life with their family. Hence, money access them to cope with financial situations and buy happiness for their family.

On the other hand, every time good financial background cannot work as a tool to feel happy. For example, students can experience joy while they getting good grades in their exam, accomplish their project work or get appreciation from their teachers for their excellent performance. Whereas, employees feel good, if they get a promotion, receive rewards from boss or positive markings for their performances. Therefore, financial status is temporary factor to bring happy moments in the life, but real happiness comes from spending time with the family, achieve success in career and admirable performances at workplace.

In conclusion, a lot of money offers people an opportunities to purchase luxury things, organised abroad trips and fulfil basic needs of their family, which ultimately brings pleasure in life. However, accomplishing targets, passing exams with good marks and progress in professional career encourages them to live meaningful life and save memorable moments for a life long.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response7.0
Coherence and Cohesion7.0
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: how money contributes to happiness and what other factors lead to fulfillment. The ideas are relevant and clearly structured. The position is consistent throughout, and the arguments are supported with examples, such as the mention of students achieving grades or employees receiving promotions. However, some points could be developed further to reach a higher band; for instance, the link between money and 'respect' is asserted but not deeply explored. Overall, the response is well-balanced and covers all requirements of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two main themes. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Moreover', 'Apart from that', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader. However, there are some instances where the flow is slightly mechanical or the referencing is a bit awkward, such as 'promotes the mankind to provide'. Despite these minor issues, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There is an attempt to use less common vocabulary, such as 'amenities', 'substantial', and 'admirable'. However, there are several instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'good financial background' (better: 'financial stability'), 'tuff situations' (spelling error: 'tough'), and 'promotes the mankind' (inappropriate usage). While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise control over word choice to reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the writer attempts complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the people', 'the mankind'), subject-verb agreement ('individual should have'), and word forms ('financial status is temporary factor'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but some sentences are slightly clunky due to these grammatical slips. The errors are noticeable but rarely impede the reader's understanding of the intended meaning. To improve, the writer should focus on article usage and ensuring subject-verb consistency.

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