Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-10

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 6.5)

If you have children, then you have two options regarding their education. The first option would be sending them to preschool at a young age and the second option would be waiting until they are old enough for school.

Focusing on the idea of sending children to preschool, we would find that there are several advantages and disadvantages.

On one hand, sending children to preschool allows them to start building relationships at a very young age, which makes it easier for them to make friends when they start visiting the school as they grow older. Moreover, visiting the preschool helps children to enhance their skills and allows them to build new ones. Also, it would be very beneficial to discover in an early stage if there are issue to start fixing them before school. Lastly, children need to spend some time of the day with other children of similar age instead of staying the whole day with their parents or a nanny. As a result, this will help children and allow them to be social and open to meet new people instead of being shy of meeting new people and making new friends.

On the other hand, there are some disadvantages of sending children to preschool at a young age. Looking closer, we could find that parents send their children to preschool at a very young age, because both, the father and mother, work all day and have no time for their children. As a result children spend very little time with their parents and this can cause them to be detached from the family. In addition, sending children to preschool could be a reason for children to get sick more often. This is a result of kids transmitting viruses and bacteria to each other through close contact and this would be very dangerous as their immune systems as still weak at such young age.

The idea of sending children to preschool or not differs widely from one family to another, that's why parents need to make the best decision for their children.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both the advantages and disadvantages of sending children to preschool. The ideas are relevant and clearly presented, such as social development and skill enhancement for advantages, and family detachment and health concerns for disadvantages. The position is clear throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas is somewhat basic; for example, the point about children getting sick could be further extended with more specific examples or a more nuanced discussion on the long-term benefits of early immune system exposure. Overall, all parts of the prompt are addressed, and the response maintains a consistent focus on the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a brief conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On one hand', 'Moreover', 'As a result', and 'In addition' are used effectively to guide the reader through the arguments. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. While the flow is generally smooth, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing could be more varied to improve the overall sophistication of the text. Nevertheless, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow throughout the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task and allows for clear communication of ideas. There is an attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'detached', 'immune systems', and 'transmitting viruses'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there is a reliance on simpler phrasing (e.g., 'visiting the school', 'start fixing them'). To reach a higher band, the student should incorporate more precise collocations and less common lexical items. There are no significant spelling or word-choice errors that impede meaning, but the vocabulary lacks the flexibility and sophistication required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There is good control over basic grammar, and the meaning is always clear. However, there are some minor errors, such as 'if there are issue to start fixing them' (should be 'issues') and 'at such young age' (missing article 'a'). The use of complex structures is present but not always perfectly executed. While the errors do not impede communication, the range of structures is not sufficiently wide or consistently accurate to warrant a higher score. More attention to articles and pluralization would improve accuracy.

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

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