Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-01

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)

Many individuals suggest that one of the primary way to stay happy is by having substantial amount of money. This is because with the help of money people can raise quality of their life. I my view, apart from money healthy lifestyle and strong bonding with family are ways to stay happy in the life.

The primary reason why having money is related to being happy in life is that people can improve their living standard with money. Better living standard, which includes having comfortable living environment, freedom of spending money on favorite products, requires significant amount of money. For example person having lots of money can live in mansion and buy whatever he/she like. Moreover, money helps society members to fulfill their dreams which makes them happy. For example if a person has dream of owning a luxurious car can be fulfilled by money, which makes person happy.

Apart from money, a healthy and socially reach lifestyle is a key of happy lifestyle. By having a fit good fitness level people are able to live without suffering and can do fun activities like exploring new places, playing sports and many others. Additionally, living with supporting friends and family enables people to spend quality time and create joyfull memories with them, leading to happy life. For example eating dinner with family members while having sweet conversation can make a person happy and lively.

To conclude, money helps person to maintain and improve their living standard and to fulfill dreams due to which money is linked with happy lifestyle. Being fit and having strong social bond with family or friends are other ways to stay happy in live.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, identifying how money contributes to happiness and suggesting alternative factors like health and social connections. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed. However, some points, such as the example of 'living in a mansion', are somewhat simplistic. To reach a higher band, the development of ideas could be more sophisticated, moving beyond basic examples to explore the psychological or societal nuances of the relationship between wealth and happiness. The position is clear throughout, and the structure is appropriate for the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the two main themes. Cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Additionally', and 'To conclude' are used to link ideas, though some transitions feel slightly mechanical. The progression of ideas is generally smooth, although the referencing in some sentences could be tighter to improve the flow between the topic sentences and the supporting examples. Overall, the information is easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to express ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common collocations, such as 'socially reach lifestyle' (which appears to be a misuse of 'rich') and 'sweet conversation'. While the meaning is generally conveyed, there are occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. The range is sufficient to discuss the topic, but more precise and varied vocabulary would be needed to achieve a higher band. Spelling is generally accurate, with only minor slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the student attempts complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the primary way', 'a healthy and socially reach lifestyle') and subject-verb agreement ('person... can live', 'money helps person'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some missing articles and awkward phrasing that slightly impede the flow. The errors do not prevent understanding, but they are frequent enough to keep the score in the 6.0 range.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.