Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-20

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 5.0)

These days, most parents send their children to preschool at the age of 2-3 years old. Other parents send their children to primary school when they are old enough. I think that there are lots of benefits, like enhancing their knowledge and increasing their communication skills. However, there are also many drawbacks, as it can be a burden and cause stress. I will discuss this in the upcoming paragraph.

There are lots of advantages when children go to preschool between the ages of 2 and 3 years old. First, they learn many things, such as making friends and communicating with others; this expands their knowledge, including learning about other cultures and traditions. They learn how to talk with each other and how to behave with others. Secondly, they learn many habits, like how to share their things with others and how to respect elders; for example, when children t share their toys and food with others, they adapt new habits, and they learn manners.

On the other hand, there are lots of disadvantages when children go to pre-school at early ages. Moreover, it gives stress and burden; at the age of 2-3 years old at that age they spend most of their time in school. They feel sad and feel stress and burden. Furthermore, some parents cannot afford preschool for their children. They do not have money.

In conclusion, there are lots of benefits, like learning so many things and also lots of drawbacks, like giving burden and stress.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You address both advantages and disadvantages, and your position is clear: preschool can build knowledge and social skills, but may cause stress and create a financial burden. The examples about making friends, sharing toys and learning manners are relevant. However, the ideas are mostly asserted rather than explained, and the discussion of stress is especially brief; explain why young children may find long periods away from home difficult and how this affects them. The affordability point also needs development or an example. The introduction says children start at two or three, although the prompt specifies three or four, and the conclusion mainly repeats earlier points. The response is one word below the required minimum, so it does not meet the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on advantages, a paragraph on disadvantages and a conclusion. The sequence is easy to follow, and signposts such as “First,” “Secondly,” “On the other hand” and “In conclusion” help identify the stages of the discussion. However, some linking is mechanical or confusing. “Moreover” introduces a disadvantage without clearly connecting it to the previous point, and “I will discuss this in the upcoming paragraph” is an unnecessary signpost. The stress point also repeats “burden” and “stress” rather than progressing to an explanation. Use clearer links between each claim and its supporting detail, and organise the disadvantages into distinct, developed points.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough basic vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “communication skills,” “cultures and traditions,” “respect elders” and “afford preschool.” Some topic-related expressions show an attempt to be specific. However, the range is limited and several words or phrases are repeated, particularly “lots of,” “learn,” “stress” and “burden.” Some choices are unnatural or imprecise, such as “adapt new habits” and “gives stress and burden”; these make parts of the response less fluent. There is also a typo in “children t share.” Aim for more precise collocations and vary repeated wording—for example, describe the emotional effect on children and the financial pressure on families using distinct terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use mostly simple sentences, with some attempts to combine ideas through clauses, as in “First, they learn many things, such as making friends and communicating with others; this expands their knowledge.” This helps convey the main message, but the range of sentence structures remains limited, and errors occur in longer constructions. For example, “at the age of 2-3 years old at that age” repeats the time phrase and leaves the sentence awkwardly structured; “when children t share” also contains a missing word or faulty construction. The sentence beginning “Moreover, it gives stress and burden” is followed by an unclear sequence of phrases. Practise building accurate complex sentences and check punctuation and sentence boundaries during revision.

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

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