Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-11-08

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some parents send their children to preschool when they are three or four years old. Other parents wait until their children are old enough for primary school before they send them to school.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of sending children to preschool at a young age.
Give reasons for your answer, and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 4.5)

In the contemporary world, education plays a crucial role in everyone's life. Under-five-year-old children are sent to preschool by some guardians. Other parents, meanwhile, do not enroll their children in school until they are older. I will discuss the merits and demerits of sending children to school at an early age or a later age.

Firstly, enrolling a child in preschool at a young age has several merits. Psychological growth is the most important advantage because if children start going to preschool, they start to observe new things and deal with those things. owing to, they have a chance to grow mentally well. Moreover, preschool creates good habits among children and also teaches some skills to children that is helpfull in th

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response3.5
Coherence and Cohesion4.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall4.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

You introduce the topic and identify a relevant benefit: preschool may support psychological growth by exposing children to new experiences. However, the response does not complete the discussion of advantages and disadvantages: it gives no disadvantage, and the final sentence is cut off before the point about habits and skills is explained. The opening promises to discuss both early and later schooling, but the task specifically asks for the advantages and disadvantages of preschool at a young age. The response is also substantially below the required 250 words, leaving too little space to explain and support ideas. To improve, address both sides directly, develop each with reasons or examples, and finish with a clear concluding view.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic sequence: an introduction is followed by a paragraph beginning “Firstly,” which signals a benefit. Linking expressions such as “meanwhile” and “Moreover” also help show relationships between ideas. However, the development stops abruptly at “in th,” so the reader cannot follow the point to its conclusion, and there is no paragraph presenting disadvantages or a conclusion. The repeated focus on “children” and “preschool” also makes the limited progression feel repetitive. Organise the response into clear paragraphs for the introduction, advantages, disadvantages, and conclusion, and use linking phrases to connect fully explained points rather than simply listing them.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “preschool,” “enroll,” “psychological growth,” and “good habits,” and the meaning of the main point is generally understandable. There is also some variety in expressions such as “merits and demerits” and “crucial role.” However, several choices are awkward or imprecise: “deal with those things” is vague, and “grow mentally well” is not a natural collocation. “Under-five-year-old children” is also cumbersome. The spelling “helpfull” is incorrect. Aim for more precise language about early learning and social development, and check spelling and collocations; for example, describe children as developing cognitive skills or adapting to new experiences.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms. For example, the opening uses a clear contrast between “some guardians” and “Other parents,” and the sentence beginning “because if children start going to preschool” shows an attempt to explain cause and effect. However, control is uneven: “owing to, they have a chance” is not a correctly formed sentence, and “skills to children that is” has faulty agreement and clause structure. The final sentence is incomplete, which also prevents the grammar of the idea from being clear. Practise building complete cause-and-effect sentences, checking that verbs agree with their subjects, and using punctuation to separate clauses. Proofread each sentence to ensure it has a complete main clause.

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