Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · IELTS Predictions Nov 2026 · 2026-11-04

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

The question “Should full time education become mandatory for children until the age of 18 years?” is being debated in many places. Some people argue that all young people should continue their studies until they reach this age.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

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

Student answer (Band 4.5)

I agree with this question and I can say that education has an important role in our lives and our children's lives. It's mandatory to think about how school changes young people and I think that we shouldn't have the opportunity to answer this or even think about it. Education and school play a vital role and we must teach our children to go to school or if we don't have this possibility we can have a homeschooling, transforming the system and making everything possible for youngers.

I consider that all people should believe like me that all children should continue their studies until they reach this age. They must trust this and provide everything they can to make it real.

I know about homeschooling from the UK, and I obtained the information that school is mandatory here. However, education is slightly different from other countries, such as Romania.

In Romania, children have to go to school up to the age of 14 and after that to college until they will turn 18 years old. Young people become adults at the age of 18 and after that they will choose if they will continue the studies at different universities. I am absolutely confident and I believe in education but on certain occasions the situation can change those steps. As parents, we know and we want all the best for our children but in today's world kids have their rules and they can do everything they want and this is a harmful transformation for them.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response4.0
Coherence and Cohesion4.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall4.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You state a clear position in favour of making education compulsory until 18, and the references to homeschooling and the Romanian education system are relevant to the topic. However, the response only minimally develops the reasons for your view: claims such as education playing a “vital role” and young people having “their rules” are not explained with specific consequences or examples. The comparison with Romania describes the system but does not show why it supports your argument, and the discussion of the UK is unclear. The response is also 5 words below the 250-word minimum; the 9 words copied from the task prompt are not counted. Develop two clear reasons and explain how each supports your position, using a relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The response has some paragraph breaks and a broadly identifiable movement from your opinion to country examples and a concluding concern about young people. However, ideas are not arranged in a consistently logical progression, and links between them are often unclear. For example, the opening moves from education’s importance to not having the opportunity to “answer this,” then to homeschooling, without explaining the connection. The UK reference also leads abruptly into Romania. Repeated statements such as “I agree” and “I believe in education” do not advance the argument. Organise the essay into a clear introduction, separate reason paragraphs, and a conclusion; use linking phrases to show how each example supports the point being made.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the general subject, including “mandatory,” “homeschooling,” “studies,” and “universities.” There are also attempts at more formal expression, such as “vital role” and “absolutely confident.” However, the range is limited and some word choices or collocations are noticeably inaccurate, which can make meaning less clear. For instance, “youngers” is not the appropriate noun for young people, and “harmful transformation” does not clearly express the concern you intend. “I agree with this question” is also an imprecise way to state your position. Build a more precise set of phrases for discussing compulsory education, its benefits, and possible disadvantages, and check that each expression fits its context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, including clauses with “if,” “but,” and “after,” and the main message is generally understandable. However, the range of structures is limited, and attempts to combine several ideas often lead to errors or awkward sentence construction. For example, “I think that we shouldn't have the opportunity to answer this” is grammatically formed but does not clearly express the intended meaning; “until they will turn 18” uses an unsuitable future form after “until.” In “all the best for our children,” the article and noun phrase are also not well controlled. Practise building clear complex sentences with accurate verb forms, and divide sentences when several points are being joined without a clear grammatical relationship.

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

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