An increased number of people today change their career and living places in their lives. Is it a positive or negative development?
Sample Response
It is believed that a lot of people have decided to change their jobs or workplaces, and places of residenceliving areas as well. Despite some negative developments that do exist, I personally believe that this trendthe changing activity is a positive development.
On the one hand, some potential risks may occur when people decide to change their jobs or residential areas. There is a risk that they might not perform well in their new roles, or not be welcomed by the other employeesnot welcomed by the other employees. Besides that, there is also a chance that the new neighbourhoods have high crime rates or the weather might not be friendly. However, changing a career and a living area is an essential thing; therefore people should study, do some researchresearchers, analyse all of the problems and try to mitigate the risks before they make a decision.
On the other hand, it is true that when people changechanged their careers and area of living, they could find some benefits. Firstly, as people change their jobschanged their works, they might become more successful than in their previous careers. In certain situations, some people might have felt that their current jobs are not in accordance with their passions. Therefore they prefer to change their occupations into other jobs which are more suitable for them. Secondly, living in new places, or new cities gives them the opportunitygive them the opportunities to experience new things. They could have the experiencefeel the experiences of having new friends, learn new languages or even feel the different weather conditions.
In conclusion, I personally think that changing a career or living place is a positive development, as people could achieve higher careers in their lives and get more experiences in their life.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response presents a clear positive position and organises its discussion of risks and benefits in an easy-to-follow way. However, the ideas remain general, the concession is not fully connected to the final judgement, and recurring language inaccuracies reduce precision. Prioritise one specific, well-explained example of career change or relocation, then show explicitly why its benefits outweigh the manageable risks.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response gives a clear positive view and considers risks and benefits. Development is relevant but often general, with limited concrete examples.
Add one specific example of a career change or relocation and explain the measurable benefit or risk.
Coherence and Cohesion
The structure is easy to follow with clear paragraphs. Some transitions are repetitive and the contrast paragraph is not fully integrated with the positive judgement.
Use the first body paragraph to concede risks, then explicitly show why they are manageable.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is sufficient for the topic, but there is repetition and several inaccurate collocations.
Build a small set of accurate collocations: change careers, relocate, residential area, job satisfaction, career prospects.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning is generally clear, but errors with verb tense, plural nouns, and word forms occur throughout.
Review noun forms after do/make and keep past/present tense consistent when discussing general trends.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
An increased number of people today change their career and living places in their lives. Is it a positive or negative development?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.