Some people think that the teenage years are the happiest time of most people’s lives. Others think that adult life brings more happiness, in spite of greater responsibility. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Sample Response
It is believed by some that the teenage yearsadolescent years are the happiest period of most people’s lives, while others believe that adulthood brings greater contentmentbrings more content, despite having more responsibilities. Although teenagers gainobtain new experiences in their teenage years, I believe that adults can enjoy the thingsenjoy in the things they have accomplished.
On the one hand, experiences that adolescents gain before theytheir reach adulthood make them happy. This is because many teenagers gainget more freedom to do the things that they like without being controlled by their parents. A sense of freedom gives them an opportunitygives them opportunity to socialise with their peerscontemporaries and many of them fall in love for the first time. These are unprecedented experiences that makemakes them feel very happy. For example, many dwellers of Sarajevo have said that their teenage years werethat teenage years were the happiest years of their lives. However, I think that adolescents do not know what real happiness iswhat a real happiness is at such a young age.
On the other hand, adults can appreciate the things they have achieved. That is to say,This is to say that many adults set goals when they were younger, such as building successful careershaving prosperous careers, because they knew that achieving their goalsknew achieving their goals would make them content. They worked hard to get closer to their goals, and when they finally achieved themachieved their targets, they felt contentcontentment. For instance, many Bosnians dreamed ofabout owning a property, and after purchasing a homepurchasing housing they were ecstatic. Therefore, I believe that adults can appreciate happiness more deeplyvalue happiness at a greater level.
In conclusion, although adolescencepre-adulthood brings new experiences, I believe that adults enjoy the perks of their hard work.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response discusses both perspectives in a clear structure and maintains an unambiguous preference for the happiness available in adulthood. Its supporting ideas are relevant but sometimes rely on broad assertions, and recurring collocation, article, and agreement errors reduce precision despite generally clear meaning. The priority is to develop the comparison more convincingly while correcting basic phrase patterns such as 'enjoy the things' and 'before they reach adulthood.'
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both views are addressed and the writer's opinion remains clear, although some support depends on broad or weakly justified claims.
Explain why achievement produces deeper happiness and replace general anecdotes with more convincing comparative reasoning.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response has a clear four-paragraph progression, and each main paragraph develops one side of the discussion.
Make progression less formulaic by using referencing and logical connections instead of relying heavily on stock signposts.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient range for the topic, but recurring inaccurate collocations and word choices reduce naturalness and precision.
Correct phrases such as 'brings more content,' 'enjoy in,' and 'value happiness at a greater level.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The writer uses both simple and complex structures, but recurring article, agreement, and clause-form errors remain noticeable.
Prioritise subject-verb agreement, articles, and clause forms in phrases such as 'before they reach' and 'experiences that make.'
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people think that the teenage years are the happiest time of most people’s lives. Others think that adult life brings more happiness, in spite of greater responsibility. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.