Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-14
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)
It is widely debated between parents, whether it is best to send their kids to kindergarten, or wait till they reach primary school age. In this essay we will discuss both arguments. And state advantages and disadvantages for preschool for kids.
On the one hand, sending offsprings to school in an early age help them in the seperation process from their mom. and promote their character development. For instance, kids who go to school in age three or four demonstrate self-esteem and independency more than kids who stay at home till they get old enough for primary school. As formers learn to be away from their mothers for a while everyday, and they forced to stop relying on mommies, and start to discover the world around them. All that character developement won't happen in an early age if the child stay at home for long time.
On the other hand, sending kids to schools early may cause pressure or harassment to them. Nowadays some schools state a curriculum for pre-kindergarten kids, which may cause harmful to their hand muscles if they forced to write before age 7 according to some researches. Moreover, kids in age 3 and 4 are still in the speaking development phase, so they might not be able to exress them selves or what happens in their day enough, that make them exposed to harassment, which put a burden on parents to make sure that they put him in a completely safe place.
In conclusion, Although many parents prefer to wait until their children are old enough for primary school, I firmly believe that preschool has positive influence on kids characters and self-esteem.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
You address both sides of the question by discussing early separation and character development as benefits, then possible pressure and difficulty reporting problems as disadvantages. Your conclusion also gives a clear preference for preschool. However, the discussion is only partly developed: the claim that preschool builds self-esteem and independence is supported by a broad comparison, but no specific example or explanation shows how this happens. The concern about writing and hand-muscle development is also asserted rather than explained, and the response does not explore why some parents wait for primary school. Develop each point with a concrete example and clarify how it affects children. The response meets the stated length requirement.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The essay has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two contrasting body paragraphs signposted by “On the one hand” and “On the other hand,” and a conclusion. This makes the overall argument easy to follow. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. The opening says “we will discuss both arguments” and then adds a sentence fragment beginning “And state,” while “As formers” is an unclear reference that interrupts the explanation. The ideas within the disadvantage paragraph also move quickly from writing demands to speech development and harassment. Use complete introductory sentences, make references explicit, and add linking explanations between related points to create smoother progression.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “character development,” “self-esteem,” “curriculum,” and “harassment.” These terms help communicate the main ideas, but the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes making the meaning less clear. Examples include “sending offsprings,” “in an early age,” “independency,” and “exress them selves.” “Harassment” may also be too strong or imprecise for the concern about children being unable to describe their day. Aim for accurate, natural phrases such as “young children,” “at an early age,” “independence,” and “express themselves,” and choose a more precise term such as “bullying” or “mistreatment” where appropriate.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You attempt a mixture of simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “who,” “as,” and “so,” and the main ideas are generally understandable. However, complex structures are often faulty, and errors in agreement, articles, verb forms, and sentence boundaries recur. For example, “sending offsprings … help them” needs a singular or plural subject with matching agreement, while “they forced to stop relying” is missing an auxiliary verb. “And state advantages…” is a sentence fragment, and “Although” is incorrectly capitalised after the opening comma in the conclusion. Practise checking each sentence for a complete subject and verb, consistent agreement, and correct punctuation; then review articles and prepositions in phrases such as “at an early age.”
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