Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-20
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 6.0)
Some people opine that decisions on less important things like entertainment, clothes and food should be made by children instead of parents as that will make the children ready for adult life, while others opine that it will make them materialistic. In my view, these decisions do not affect the children in any harmful way and thus be made by the younger generation independently or in the supervision of an adult if need be.
Children, who make decisions, become more independent and responsible than the non-decision makers. The youths are more prone to be happy if the clothes are selected by them independently. To exemplify, when children buy new shirts or jeans, they put effort in going to the store and decide on a single set from thousands in the store, this makes them emotionally attached to the pair and are likely to wear them. Moreover, this selection process teaches them the importance of responsibility, since there is often a budget to keep in mind.
On the other side of the argument, if a child consumes junk food, watches adult content or wear clothes inappropriately, selfishness will grow inside them as they grow. Since, they are only taught to do what is beneficial for them regardless of other people opinions. A society made up of these type of individuals will thoroughly cut out any helping acts- donations, charity to temples and operations of non profit organizations. Additionally, the youths are not able to calculate effects of short term gain in front of long term consequences, which will spiral them towards a wrong path.
In my opinion, although, there are risk of consequences, the presence of guardian or parents can acts as their guide to steer them away from oily foods and restrict the use of technology before 16.
To conclude, the decision making power of non leisure choices should allowed to be handled by youths in the supervision of their guardians.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5
The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—that independent decision-making fosters adulthood and responsibility versus breeding selfishness and materialism—and clearly states an opinion. The position is maintained throughout the essay. Ideas are generally well-supported with examples, such as children choosing their own clothes and sticking to a budget. However, some arguments in the third paragraph, such as the claim that children making everyday choices will 'thoroughly cut out any helping acts- donations, charity', tend to overgeneralize and lack full development. Overall, the response meets the criteria for Band 6.5 to 7.0, and leaning towards the Band 7 descriptor due to its clear position and extended support.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay presents a clear logical organization and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, moving from an introduction to the benefits of decision-making, the counter-arguments regarding selfishness, the personal opinion, and a concise conclusion. Cohesive devices are used adequately, including transition markers like 'Moreover', 'On the other side of the argument', and 'Additionally'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. However, referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as 'these type of individuals' instead of 'this type of individual', and minor cohesion slips keep it from reaching a higher band. Overall, the structure and flow comfortably support a Band 6.5 or 7.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate to sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'materialistic', 'emotionally attached', and 'non profit organizations'. There are, however, some noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies, for example, 'opine' used repeatedly in a slightly unnatural way, 'wear clothes inappropriately' instead of 'inappropriately dressed', and 'non leisure choices' instead of 'non-leisure choices'. Spelling and word formation are generally accurate enough not to impede communication. This performance aligns well with the Band 6.0 descriptors, where vocabulary is adequate but contains persistent minor lexical errors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over relative clauses ('Children, who make decisions...') and conditional-like structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors in tense consistency, prepositions, and agreement. Examples include 'are likely to wear them' missing a subject pronoun referring back to the children, 'regardless of other people opinions' lacking a possessive apostrophe, and 'there are risk of consequences' showing a plural-singular agreement error. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur regularly throughout the text, placing the essay firmly in the Band 6 category.
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