Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-11

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 6.0)

Some individuals believe that happiness is proportional to money. It is an undeniable fact that money helps to buy luxury lifestyle and high quality education which results in financial stability and broaden horizon. However, good health and relationships are equally important.

There are several ways in which having money contributes to hapiness. Firstly, financial security allows people to afford basic necessities and a healthy lifestyle. For example, wealthy people are not worried about paying rent to live in and medical expenses. As a result, they live stress free life with a greater sense of security. Secondly, rich person have opportunities to enjoy their life such as travel to abroad, persue their hobbies, enjoy dinner at a good restaurant and spending time with their loved ones rather than working in a long shift. Therefore, those opportunities provide a better quality of life.

However, money alone cannot guarantee happiness. Humans needs their loved ones such as friends and family, to share their feelings which provides them great mental well being. If they live alone with money they will become mentally sick because they will lose sense of belonging and emotional support. Additionally, good health is a key factor of happiness. An ill person will not be able to enjoy the advantage of being rich. For instance, physically fit economically challenges person enjoys more than a sick rich individual.

In conclusion, for happiness, money is equally important to health and relationships because money alone will result in grief.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing how money contributes to happiness and identifying other factors like health and relationships. However, the essay falls slightly short of the 250-word minimum requirement, which limits the depth of development. While the ideas are relevant, some points, such as the comparison between a 'physically fit economically challenges person' and a 'sick rich individual,' are somewhat underdeveloped and could benefit from more detailed explanation or concrete examples to fully satisfy the requirements of a higher band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. The progression of ideas is generally easy to follow, and the writer uses basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly,' 'Secondly,' 'However,' and 'In conclusion' to link ideas. While the paragraphing is appropriate, the flow between some sentences is slightly mechanical. To improve, the writer should focus on using a wider variety of cohesive devices and ensuring that referencing (e.g., 'they', 'those') is always clear and unambiguous throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'proportional' and 'financial stability.' However, there are occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'broaden horizon' (should be 'broaden horizons') and 'economically challenges person' (should be 'economically challenged person'). The range is sufficient to communicate, but more precise and varied vocabulary would be needed to reach a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('a luxury lifestyle,' 'a stress free life'), subject-verb agreement ('rich person have,' 'Humans needs'), and pluralization. These errors do not significantly impede communication, but they are noticeable throughout the text. To improve, the writer should focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy, specifically regarding singular/plural nouns and verb forms, and aim to incorporate more complex structures with greater precision.

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

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