Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-04

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

A huge number of students choose to study English independently on a self- study basis rather than attend a formal course. However, without the assistance of a teacher, students often find it difficult to manage their studies.

To what extent do you agree or disagree ?

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

Student answer (Band 6.5)

In contemporary society, a lot of students choose to study English on their own rather than attend a formal course. While in some situations learners may find it hard to manage their studies without a teacher, I believe that it depends on personal goals and self-drive.

Although it is true that students often find it difficult to manage their studies, personal goals may determine the extent that a learner takes in their studies. This is because most learners may be aware that some courses require a higher academic performance which makes them study more particularly those who may be planning to pursue them. For this reason, having a tutor may not be a factor, since they may do more research with or without them. For instance, if a student wants to be an eloquent English speaker, they must study comprehensively for them to master good vocabularies. As a result they might achieve better scores even without a teacher.

Furthermore, self-drive is another factor that plays a crucial role in the academic performance of a student. This is because the learner may create more time on their own without the guidance of a teacher, thereby, they may learn on their own without being guided by anyone. Consider students taking their masters' degree in English, if they are given the course outline, they may do a thorough research independently.

To conclude, although learners may find it hard to manage their studies without a teacher, their results may be determined by their personal goals and self-drive, which forces them to strive to succeed.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.5
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the role of personal goals and self-drive in independent learning. You clearly state your position in the introduction and maintain it throughout. However, the development of ideas is somewhat repetitive. For instance, the argument regarding 'self-drive' in the second body paragraph overlaps significantly with the points made about 'personal goals' in the first. To reach a higher band, you should provide more distinct, concrete examples or deeper analysis of how a teacher's absence specifically impacts the learning process, rather than focusing solely on the student's internal motivation. The conclusion effectively summarizes your stance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. You use cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'For this reason', and 'To conclude' to link your ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the flow between sentences within paragraphs could be smoother. For example, the transition between the discussion of 'academic performance' and the 'eloquent English speaker' example is a bit abrupt. Additionally, the referencing in the second paragraph ('they may do more research with or without them') is slightly ambiguous, as it is not immediately clear if 'them' refers to the tutors or the courses.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'contemporary society', 'academic performance', and 'comprehensively'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are instances of imprecise word choice, such as 'master good vocabularies' (vocabulary is an uncountable noun) and 'create more time' (which is less natural than 'allocate more time'). While your meaning is always clear, the vocabulary lacks the sophistication and precision required for higher bands. Expanding your use of collocations and academic phrasing would significantly improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as the conditional 'if a student wants to be... they must study'. While there are some grammatical errors, such as 'masters' degree' (should be 'master's degree') and 'the extent that a learner takes in their studies' (which is slightly awkward phrasing), these errors do not impede communication. Your control over punctuation is generally good, and the majority of your sentences are clear. To improve, try to incorporate a wider variety of complex structures, such as passive voice or more varied subordinate clauses, while ensuring higher accuracy.

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

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