Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-30

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)

Numerous people argue that allowing children to make their own choices on everyday essentials such as food, entertainment and clothes can result in a society of individuals who just care about their own choices. Other people believe that its better for children to take decisions about matters that leave impact on them. I believe that its really important to train children about choosing of something that really matters.

Several people argue that allowing children to take decisions for themselves could result in selfish attitude. If children just think about their own desires like choosing food, clothes and entertainment they will not even think about to do any productivity. Children who have this kind of mentality they don't plan to create a better future, particular reason for this is their mind is desighned to just fulfills their own temporary necessaties.

On the other hand few individuals believe that it is really important for children to take decisions which really affect them. People argue that it is really crucial to train infants to think productivly so that they can contribute to build up the society and make their society worth living. I believe that its important to provide knowledge to infants that they should not just focus on improving their personal choices but also do something to create opportunities for upcoming generation. In addition by this way youth will set their goals to do something to improve the world in various ways.

In conclusion, some people believe that its better to provide selection of choices for children just to think about their own desires, while other individuals have point that its better to give knowldege to infants to do what really affects their lives. I believe it is really important to create a mentality in youth to set-up goals and ambitions which will prove impressive in their practical lives.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the view that letting children make everyday choices leads to self-centred adults, as well as the counter-argument that decision-making teaches valuable life skills. You also provide a personal opinion, concluding that teaching children goal-setting is crucial. However, the development of ideas remains somewhat repetitive and lacks depth. For instance, the argument about children failing to be productive when choosing clothes or food is underdeveloped and relies on sweeping generalisations. While a clear position is maintained throughout the essay, the supporting arguments require more detailed explanation and concrete examples rather than recurring assertions. This level of task handling aligns with the requirements for Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with four distinct paragraphs that follow a standard introduction-body-conclusion structure. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different viewpoints. However, cohesion at the sentence level is often mechanical and repetitive, frequently relying on transitions like 'On the other hand' and 'In addition'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the pronoun 'they' in phrases like 'Children who have this kind of mentality they don't plan...'. Additionally, the progression of ideas within paragraphs feels somewhat circular rather than advancing logically towards a well-structured conclusion. These features place the writing securely within the Band 6 descriptor.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your main ideas about children and decision-making. You attempt some less common vocabulary such as 'essentials', 'productivity', and 'ambitions', but these attempts are occasionally marred by inappropriate word choice, collocation errors, or missing apostrophes (e.g., 'its better' instead of 'it is better', 'take decisions' instead of 'make decisions', and spelling errors like 'desighned' and 'knowldege'). The range of vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the message, but inaccuracies in form and spelling prevent the response from achieving a higher band, making Band 5.5 a fair and accurate reflection of your lexical control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting complex structures through conditional clauses and relative pronouns (e.g., 'If children just think about their own desires like choosing food, clothes and entertainment they will not even think about to do any productivity'). However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are frequent punctuation and structural errors, such as missing apostrophes in contractions ('its'), incorrect verb complements ('think about to do'), and incorrect noun forms ('infants' used interchangeably with children, which sounds unnatural in this context). While these errors do not completely impede communication, their frequency prevents the grammar score from reaching Band 6.

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

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