Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-12
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)
Money plays a very essential role in everyone's life. Life without money is like car without petrol. It is believed that money is great motivator to live a happy life. It can be a reason but there are other ways too to live a happy life. Both of the viewpoints will be discussed in the upcoming paragraphs.
On the one hand , Money comes with lots of advantages. The first and foremost is for fulfilling basic necessities of life such as food, water and shelter. The basic needs cannot be satisfied without money. For instance If food will not be there, a person can die with hunger and loose their life. As a result money is much important in the case. Secondly, for buying luxuries of life. Everyone wants to live a comfortable and luxury life and that can be done only with money. To explain further, if a person buys their dream car or bike or wants to travel to dream destination, consequently one will be happy and will feel satisfied with their life that earning money has fulfill their dreams.
On the other hand, there are other ways also which can make a life happy. Firstly, developing close relationships. To explain further, some people really feel over the moon when they have emotional and love bonding with their loved ones. So as a result in that case money can never give that emotional peace to them. In addition to this, appreciation also plays a greater role. This means there are some people like in job environment or in student life also who really get motivated and happy when they are being praised for their work. For example, In big companies everyone has different kind of motivation to work. So for some of them, when they are given recognition by their boss or manager, they become more efficient and do their work more wholeheartedly.
In conclusion, I would like to say that it really depends upon person to person as what makes them happy either money or other things. Although, In my opinion money never makes my happy. It's always emotional bonds and appreciation that plays a greater role in my life.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0
The student addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both how money can bring happiness through basic needs and luxuries, and alternative sources of happiness such as close relationships and workplace appreciation. A clear position is maintained throughout the essay. The ideas are extended and supported with relevant explanations and examples, such as mentioning food and shelter as basic necessities and discussing how corporate recognition boosts efficiency. While some of the supporting details are a bit repetitive or general, the response fully satisfies the task requirements and earns a solid band 7.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5
The essay has a clear overall organization with logical paragraphing, dividing the introduction, body paragraphs for money and alternative sources of happiness, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Secondly', and 'In addition to this' are used to structure the text, though some transitional phrasing feels slightly mechanical (e.g., 'To explain further'). Referencing is generally clear, and the logical progression from one idea to the next is easy to follow. Paragraphing is used appropriately throughout, placing this response comfortably at a band 6.5.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common phrases like 'fulfilling basic necessities', 'luxuries of life', and 'over the moon'. However, there are noticeable word-choice inaccuracies and awkward collocations, such as 'Life without money is like car without petrol' (missing article), 'great motivator', and 'love bonding' instead of emotional bond. Spelling is generally accurate, but the lexical control fluctuates, making band 6.0 an appropriate descriptor for this performance.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0
The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing conditional clauses and relative clauses. However, there are several noticeable grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'like car without petrol', 'If food will not be there, a person can die with hunger and loose their life', and 'earning money has fulfill'. Punctuation errors also appear, including a comma before 'Money' after an opening phrase ('On the one hand , Money comes...'). These errors occasionally interrupt the flow but rarely impede overall communication, supporting a band 6.0 score.
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.