Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-27

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 5.5)

There is an ongoing debate about whether children should attend preschool at the age of three or four. Some people believe that parents should send their children as early as possible. Whereas others argue that parents should wait until the right time, to be mature enough. Both views have their own benefits and drawbacks, which will be explained in the ensuing paragraphs with relevant examples.

Examining the brighter side of sending children helps develop social skills. Learning something with the group leads children to face different aspects such as conflicts, teamwork, co-operation, critical thinking, and leadership skills, which helps them in latter stage of school. For instance, they will complete specific tasks in a group will help them. If this same task would assign at home they might not learn this skills.

On the other hand, there is downsides too. To begin with, less time with parents. This is because spending most of the time in school makes children to spend less time with their father and mother. As a result, they might be not able to make stronger bond between them. For instance, studies have proven that children who spend lot of time with their parents have a very good bond.

To conclude, starting pre-school early has numerous benefits and drawbacks. Such as, benefits are learning how to socialize, develop skills like team-work and so on. While it has some drawbacks to such a not get enough times with parents due to this relationship between them may not build stronger.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both the advantages and disadvantages of preschool attendance. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the point about social skills is mentioned, but the explanation remains superficial. The example provided, 'they will complete specific tasks in a group will help them', is grammatically unclear and lacks depth. Similarly, the disadvantage regarding the parent-child bond is stated but not fully explored with convincing evidence. To improve, you should provide more detailed explanations and concrete examples to support your arguments, ensuring that the connection between your points and the prompt is explicit and well-reasoned.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use basic cohesive devices like 'On the other hand' and 'To conclude' to signal transitions. However, the internal cohesion within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical or faulty. For example, the sentence 'Such as, benefits are learning how to socialize' is a fragment and disrupts the flow. Additionally, the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the phrase 'due to this relationship', where the antecedent is ambiguous. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that sentences connect logically would significantly enhance the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your meaning, but it lacks the range and precision required for a higher band. You rely on simple, repetitive phrasing such as 'benefits and drawbacks' and 'good bond'. There are also some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'Examining the brighter side' and 'might be not able to make stronger bond'. To reach a higher score, try to incorporate more sophisticated vocabulary and idiomatic expressions, and ensure that your word choices are precise and contextually appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. For example, 'If this same task would assign at home they might not learn this skills' contains errors in passive voice construction and pluralization. Other issues include missing articles and incorrect verb forms, such as 'makes children to spend' instead of 'makes children spend'. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors suggests a need for more careful proofreading and a stronger grasp of sentence construction and subject-verb agreement.

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

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