Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-03

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people say that physical education classes are an important part of a child's education. Others believe that it is more important to focus on academics during school time.

Discuss both these views, and give your opinion.

Give reasons for your answer, and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.0)

There has been an ongoing debate about what is more important physical education or academics. While several people who believe that physical education plays a vital role in student's overall growth, others argue that students should give more importance to their other subjects. This essay will discuss both the views before presenting my opinion.

On the one hand, sports have its own significant benefits. Physical training promote a healthy lifestyle in child's daily live. Moreover, sports encourage students to follow healthy habits, teach them discipline and motivate them to stay fit which boost their physical as well as mental strength. For instance, daily exercise not only allows children to focus on their education, but also increase concentration.

On the other hand, although extra curricular activities increase children's physical strength, it can distract them from theoretical education. People who support academics believe that subjects like Science and Mathematics are more essential for student's academic growth. It develops critical thinking which is major requirement for numerous occupation requirement.

For example, students with good academic results have more chance to succeed in competitive examination and achieve their dreams.

In my opinion, since both the classes have their own merits, schools should maintain balance between physical education and academic subjects while making yearly curricular.

To conclude, schools and government should promote sports and academics equally for child's overall growth so that they can concentrate on education by following healthy habits.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The essay addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the response is 236 words long, failing to meet the 250-word minimum requirement. This under-length significantly impacts the development of ideas, as the arguments remain somewhat superficial. While the prompt is addressed, the lack of depth in the supporting examples prevents a higher score. To improve, you must expand on your points with more detailed explanations and specific, illustrative examples to ensure you comfortably exceed the word count and fully develop your position.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for each viewpoint, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Moreover', and 'In my opinion' are used to link ideas. However, the flow is occasionally mechanical, and some transitions between sentences feel abrupt. The paragraphing is appropriate, but the overall progression of ideas could be smoother if you used a wider variety of linking phrases to connect your supporting evidence more naturally to your main arguments.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'ongoing debate', 'vital role', and 'theoretical education'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'yearly curricular' (should be 'curriculum') and 'numerous occupation requirement' (should be 'occupational requirements'). The vocabulary is generally sufficient to convey meaning, but it lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. Expanding your repertoire of academic collocations and ensuring correct word forms will help improve your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and articles, such as 'sports have its own' (should be 'have their own'), 'promote a healthy lifestyle in child's daily live' (should be 'in a child's daily life'), and 'increase concentration' (should be 'increases'). While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher band. Focusing on proofreading for basic agreement and article usage would significantly enhance the accuracy of your writing.

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

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