Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-02

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people believe that allowing children to make their own choices on everyday matters (such as food, clothes and entertainment) is likely to result in a society of individuals who only think about their own wishes. Other people believe that it is important for children to make decisions about matters that affect them.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Desicion making plays a significant role in enhancing the cognitive and problem solving ability of children. In this regard, some people argue that permitting children to make a decision on daily life matter for instance food selection, cloth choice and recreational sources would result in the society of selfish individuals who only consider there own benifits. Conversely, others thinks that it is paramount for the children to allow them to make desicion about the thing that really affect there life. I firmly agree with those who are in favour of the argument that children should be free to make decisions in their daily life.

There are plenty of benefits of this approach. If we allow a children to make decision about any Matter of his concern, this will assist in enhancing his creativity, Logical thinking and problem solving ability. Children will be able to learn from his wrong decisions. In addition, this will help in boosting his confidence which will probably affect his academic performance in a positive way. For instance, if we give permission to our child to select the cloth of his own choice, then he will feel confident and happy.

In contrast, it is gerenally argued that permitting child to make his own choice in daily affairs will have a deterimental affect on community. It is somehow true that children will become a selfish person. This will ultimately in creation of selfish society where everyone will only think about his own wishes. In addition , they will ignore others opinions about different affairs. Furthermore, conflicts will arise.

Taking everything into account, I firmly believe that the benefits of allowing children to make their choice or a desicion in a matter outweigh the drawbacks. Although they might become selfish about things , it can enhance their problem solving ability and creativity which will assist them in their practical life.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both views and providing a clear personal opinion. The position is consistent throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention that children might become selfish, this point is not fully explored or supported with concrete examples beyond a general statement. To reach a higher band, ensure that your arguments are extended with more depth and specific reasoning. The introduction and conclusion are clear, but the body paragraphs could benefit from more detailed analysis to fully satisfy the requirement for well-developed ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different viewpoints. You use some cohesive devices such as 'In this regard', 'Conversely', and 'In contrast' to guide the reader. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical, and there are instances where the flow between sentences could be smoother. For example, the transition between the benefits of decision-making and the counter-argument about selfishness could be more sophisticated. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear, but the cohesion lacks a natural, fluid quality.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to express your ideas clearly. You use some relevant topic-specific terms like 'cognitive', 'problem solving', and 'recreational sources'. However, there are several spelling errors, such as 'Desicion' (decision), 'benifits' (benefits), 'gerenally' (generally), and 'deterimental' (detrimental). These errors are frequent enough to be noticeable. To improve, focus on accuracy in spelling and try to incorporate a wider range of less common lexical items with more precision. The current range is sufficient but lacks the flexibility and sophistication required for a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and pronoun usage, such as 'others thinks' instead of 'others think' and 'there own benifits' instead of 'their own benefits'. Additionally, there are issues with article usage, such as 'a children' and 'the society'. These errors occur throughout the text. While they do not impede communication, they prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. Focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and subject-verb consistency.

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

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