Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-17
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)
People hold different views regarding letting kids make their own personal choices. First are those people whoare against to the thought that kids should be allowed to make their own decisions regarding the matters of their lives. Second are those who are in the favor of letting children make their own life decisions .
Some people has strong faith that if we let childern make their own choices regarding their life styles and other activities, it will suely lead to wards the narrow minded society of people who only thinks about themselves and just acknowledge their own wishes. On the other hand, if we see most of the individuals hold a quite different belief that it is quite important and helpful for children development to let them make their own choices. As moving forward in life it will make them independent and confident on themselves.
I persoanlly think that we should let kids have prefrences regarding their own life decisions. It will make them hold responsibility and accountability of their choices. In this way, kids logical and analytical skills will also boost up and they will start to acquire this skill fromt he initial stages of their lives.
Imagine a kid who knows their skills and make their subjects to choose aligned with them. Later on in life they will surely be more confident in that study stream. It will also make competent and acheive their goals more efficiently then someone who never got to make any important choices by themselves.
In conclusion, Letting kids make their own choices and preferences will surely make them self-assured and highly reliable in life.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views—that letting children make choices creates self-centred adults versus the view that it fosters independence—and clearly states your own opinion in the third paragraph. The ideas are generally relevant, but some points lack deeper extension and support. For instance, the example about a kid choosing subjects is somewhat brief and could be further illustrated with concrete outcomes. However, a clear position is maintained throughout the essay. The task is addressed adequately, fitting the criteria for a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. However, paragraphing is somewhat irregular, as seen in the separation of the introduction into two blocks ('First are those people...' and 'Second are those...'). Cohesive devices are attempted, but referencing and linking are occasionally mechanical or faulty, such as 'First are those people whoare against to the thought' and 'Second are those who are in the favor'. Progression is sometimes hindered by these abrupt transitions, leading to a score of 5.5.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The essay displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'accountability', 'analytical skills', and 'self-assured'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'against to the thought', 'in the favor of', and 'make their subjects to choose'. Spelling mistakes like 'childern', 'to wards', 'persoanlly', 'prefrences', and 'acheive' also occur throughout the text. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and conditional structures (e.g., 'if we let childern make their own choices...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with preposition usage ('against to', 'in the favor of'), subject-verb agreement ('Some people has strong faith', 'kids... knows'), and word order ('make their subjects to choose'). Punctuation and spacing issues also appear. While communication is not impeded, the accumulation of errors places this within the Band 5.0 range.
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.