Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-19

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people believe that children learn better when they are placed in classes with children of similar academic abilities. Others believe that children learn better when they are in classes with children representing a diverse range of academic abilities.

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)

It is believed by some people that children learn better with other children when they have same academic abilities while others believe that the learning is better with children having heterogeneous academic abilities. This essay intends to discuss both the perspectives. I, personally believe in the latter view.

There are numerous reasons why some people believe the students with similar abilities learn better. Firstly, students will not feel competitive towards their fellow students. As a result, they will learn at their own pace and will be in harmony with others. Secondly, when students sense an equal level in class, they would not undergo inferiority complex which somehow may develop seeing others at a higher level.

On the other hand, those who believe that children learn better with the other children having various adademic capibilities give their reasons as follows. To begin with, when children encounter sharper minds relative to them, they try to grasp the knowledge automatically to be able to rise to above levels. This encourage students to push their limits and bring themselves out of their comfort zones. Furthermore, when students accompanies with other students having various skills, they improve each other organically.

In my opinion, children learn better with other children having different academic abilties as by just being in that environment, they will learn sportsmanship skill. As a result, they will learn to respect every other children abilties. For example, after getting academic results, children will accompany each other to learn and expand their knowledge base.

To sum up, I reiterate that students acquire better when placed with the children representing different range of academic abilities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—homogenous versus heterogeneous academic grouping—and clearly states the writer's personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are presented and supported with reasons, such as the avoidance of competition in homogeneous classes versus the promotion of resilience and organic improvement in diverse settings. However, some of these supporting ideas remain slightly underdeveloped or rely on general assertions rather than deep elaboration. For instance, the discussion on sportsmanship in the final paragraph could be expanded to more directly answer how mixed-ability groups foster learning. Overall, the response fulfills the requirements for Band 6.5 to 7.0, and since the word count requirement was met, it is awarded a solid Band 6.5 for addressing the prompt adequately with a clear, albeit somewhat simple, position.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a clear overall arrangement with logical progression. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, starting with the introduction, moving to the first view, then the second view, followed by the writer's opinion, and ending with a summary. The writer uses standard cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'On the other hand', 'To begin with', and 'Furthermore' to signpost the structure of the essay. Paragraphing is used appropriately throughout. However, referencing and cohesive ties are at times slightly mechanical or repetitive, and transitional phrases between sentences could be more naturally integrated. For example, 'the other children having various adademic capibilities give their reasons as follows' is a bit formulaic. These features align comfortably with Band 6.0, as cohesion is functional but occasionally lacks sophistication.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully using topic-related terms such as 'academic abilities', 'heterogeneous academic abilities', 'comfort zones', and 'knowledge base'. There are, however, noticeable lexical errors and spelling mistakes throughout the text, including 'adademic' instead of 'academic', 'capibilities' instead of 'capabilities', and 'accompanies' instead of 'accompany'. Furthermore, awkward collocations like 'inferiority complex which somehow may develop' and 'children learn better with other children' detract from precision. While the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main arguments clearly, the presence of these word-choice and spelling errors places the response firmly within the Band 6.0 descriptor range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay employs a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, attempting conditional and subordinate clauses such as 'when children encounter sharper minds relative to them, they try to grasp the knowledge automatically'. There are, however, frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding prepositions and verb forms, such as 'when children learn better with other children when they have same academic abilities', 'when students accompanies with other students', and 'every other children abilties'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while these errors are noticeable and occasionally distract the reader, they do not impede overall communication. The presence of these recurring mistakes alongside a mixed grammatical range reflects the characteristics of Band 6.0.

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

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