Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-09

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)

Many parents send their children to preschool early before five years old, while other parents send the children once they reach five years old. Therefore, the discussion of sending children to preschool at young age has advantages and disadvantages.

Firstly, the advantage is that children are able to learn plenty things in a various way. They are taught and knowledged about basic things that every kid needs to know. Preschool becomes a way that children not only play and enjoy going but also learn new things everyday which boosts their abilites and with that kids want to be engaged. For example, nowadays for parents, they have little choice of staying home with the kids and teaching them but children are going to preschool so that they can learn faster as teachers have new innovative ways to teach the kids.

On the other hand, the disadvantge is children are not able to fully enjoy the young age. Children at the young age of three or four years old have memories of enjoying and playing around with siblings or at some park. At the age, children would be taught basic knowledge of understanding alphabets or colors. For example, my cousin went to preschool at the age of three years old, there he was being naughty and not paying attention to teachers and not learning. Thus, the parents were informed and the kid was taken away and they were told, the kid was not fit for preschool.

In conclusion, sending children to preschool can be both good or bad. Thus, teachers have that ability to teach children in a innovative way but also children have plenty time to play and enjoy at home.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both advantages and disadvantages and give relevant examples, including the cousin’s experience at preschool. The benefit of learning through teachers’ methods is identifiable, and the drawback of losing time for play is also relevant. However, the discussion is only partially developed: the learning benefit is described generally, while the cousin’s example mainly shows that one child was not ready, rather than explaining the wider disadvantages of early preschool. Your opening and conclusion indicate that there are two sides, but your overall view is not clearly established. To strengthen the response, explain the effects of early attendance more fully and make your position on the balance of benefits and drawbacks explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the advantage and disadvantage, and a conclusion. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the main stages. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. For instance, “Therefore, the discussion…” does not clearly follow from the comparison in the opening, and “At the age” has an unclear reference. The conclusion repeats the two sides but does not bring the discussion together into a clear final judgement. Improve progression by linking each example directly to the point it supports and using clearer references between sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “preschool,” “teachers,” “basic knowledge,” and “siblings.” There are also attempts at more descriptive language, such as “innovative ways to teach.” However, the range is limited and several noticeable word-choice, spelling, or collocation errors make parts less natural: “knowledged,” “plenty things,” “a various way,” “abilites,” and “disadvantge.” Some expressions are also vague, such as “basic things that every kid needs to know.” Aim for accurate, natural phrases and more precise vocabulary about early education, social development, and readiness. Proofreading spelling and word forms would make your meaning easier to follow.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentence forms, including clauses with “while,” “but,” and “so that,” and the main message is generally understandable. However, the range is limited, and complex sentences are often not controlled accurately. Examples include “the advantage is that children are able to learn plenty things,” where the sentence structure and article use are faulty, and “the kid was not fit for preschool,” which needs clearer grammatical framing. There are also problems with articles and agreement, as in “in a innovative way,” and punctuation around the reported information in the cousin example. Practise building accurate sentences with subordinate clauses, and check articles, agreement, and punctuation when editing.

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