Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-27

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 6.5)

It is common for some parents to send their kids to preschool when they are age three or four, while other parents prefer to wait till the kids are older and ready for primary school. I will be discussing the advantages and disadvantages of sending children to preschool school at a tender age.

The benefits of sending children to preschool at a young age is that the child easily adapt and adjust to the school environment and routines. Getting set for school is a major change that requires adequate time to get used to. The regular ritual of waking early in the morning to meet up with school resumption time is not an easy one. When children are exposed to this early enough, they tend not to struggle when they eventually transition to primary school as they are already familiar with the whole process. In addition, preshcool is not just for the pupils to play, eat and sleep, they are engaged with basic learning, nursery rhymes and fun games that helps to educate and train the pupils. For example, a lot of preschool students can identify basic colors, numbers and alphabets which they would not be opportuned to know if they where at home.

However, there are also some disadvantages to this, children at a very tender age do not have the chance to spend quality time with their parents. At this young age, they are expected to be nurtured by their parents, spend good times with them, to make memories that will be beneficial for their personalities as adults. The parent and child bond is expected to be developed during this phase of their life, where they get used to their parents, become free with them and build lasting relationship.

In conclusion, though there are advantages of taking a child to preschool at a tender age, but there are also disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of sending children to preschool at a young age. The student presents a clear position and supports main ideas with relevant explanations, such as how early exposure helps children adapt to school routines and the benefits of basic learning activities. However, the development remains somewhat general, and the conclusion is brief and lacks depth, noting only that there are both advantages and disadvantages without summarizing the core points. This places the response comfortably at Band 6.5, as it covers the task well but lacks the fully extended and well-developed ideas required to reach Band 7.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression of ideas. Each paragraph has a clear focus: the introduction outlines the topic and stance, the second paragraph details the advantages, the third discusses the disadvantages, and the final paragraph attempts a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as 'In addition', 'For example', and 'However'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the distinct ideas. Nevertheless, referencing and linking are occasionally mechanical or slightly repetitive, preventing the response from achieving a higher band. Overall, the structure is clear and easy to follow, justifying a Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'tender age', 'routines', and 'transition'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text. For instance, the phrase 'preschool school' contains an unnecessary repetition, and 'where they where at home' features a spelling error ('where' instead of 'were'). Additionally, 'would not be opportuned' is unnatural phrasing in standard academic or general English. These errors do not impede communication, but their presence points clearly to a Band 6 level of lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and conditional structures. There are several grammatical errors present, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('the benefits... is that the child easily adapt', which should be 'are that the children easily adapt'), punctuation slips, and awkward phrasing in clauses like 'preschool is not just for the pupils to play, eat and sleep, they are engaged' (comma splice). While these errors occur with some frequency, the meaning remains clear throughout, and communication is not impeded. This performance aligns well with the Band 6 descriptor for grammar.

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

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