Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-18

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)

Many individuals argue that it is essential to allow children that they make own decisions about everyday matters by using their self thoughts, while other people believe that giving permission to children lead to promote those individuals who only think about their own wishes. In my opinion, it is better for children to take their own decisions.

On one side of the argument, there are people who hold the opinion that encouraging children to take their dicision will yield worst result. The most compelling reason for believing this is that children are unable to take good decisons. They have less experience in real world and do not know the circumstanes of their actions. For example, a children want to play with knife but it is very dangerous for him/her. Furthermore, the other reason is that the childrens who take their own decisions may become selfish and only think about their own wishes. For instance, children who grow with their own mindset will lead to a bad community. This encourages youth to stay with their own thoughts.

Despite the above arguments, I am of the view instilling a sense of optimal decision will healp childrens to become future leader. It helps them to take right decision at the the right time. For instance, children who grow up in that kind of enviroment, would lead the community. This also encourage productivity. Additionally, taking decision their own will help them in rational thinking. This lead toward team work , proper functioning and creativity. For example, children have unlimited thougts and imagination and taking decisions will help them to get out of the box.

To conclude. both views are commonoly held in society, I believe that allowing children is a more important value. This is because it helps them to think out of the box which will cause of creativity and innovation. Given this situation, it is recommended that parents should guide and encourage them to take right decisions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on children making everyday decisions and providing a clear personal opinion. The student attempts to develop ideas, such as arguing that decision-making helps children become future leaders and fosters rational thinking, while acknowledging the opposing view regarding lack of experience and selfishness. However, some ideas are repetitive or underdeveloped, such as the example of playing with a knife, which is slightly exaggerated. The position is maintained throughout the text, meeting the basic requirements for a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is generally coherent with a clear overall arrangement into four paragraphs, including an introduction, two body paragraphs representing opposing views, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'On one side of the argument', 'Despite the above arguments', and 'To conclude'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen with punctuation errors in transitions like 'To conclude. both views are commonoly held'. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion could be smoother to establish clearer logical progression.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'compelling reason', 'optimal decision', and 'rational thinking'. However, there are noticeable limitations and inaccuracies in word choice and spelling, including 'self thoughts', 'dicision', 'decisons', 'circumstanes', 'healp', 'enviroment', and 'commonoly'. These lexical errors and awkward collocations occur frequently, constraining the precision of the argument, which places this performance firmly at Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors such as subject-verb agreement issues ('childrens who take', 'children want'), prepositional mistakes ('taking decision their own'), and awkward phrasing ('allow children that they make own decisions'). Punctuation errors are also present, such as a period used instead of a comma in the concluding paragraph. These errors frequently cause strain or hesitation for the reader, aligning with the Band 5.0 descriptors.

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