Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-09-23

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many parts of the world girls and boys are educated together in co-educational or mixed schools. Some people think that girls and boys benefit from being educated separately in single-sex schools. To what extent do you agree with this view?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience. Write at least 250 words.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

There are co-educational schools in various regions of the world where boys and girls study together. However,many people argue that the students benefit more from single-sex schools rather than mixed ones. I do not agree with this idea of seperate schools for boys and girls. I am going to talk about reasons for my disagreement with this and relevant examples will be given in this essay.

Most of the developed nations have co-education system from primary schools to the post-graduate level. There are several reasons for this.Firstly, students tend to be more competitive in the mixed environment. They see competiton with the opposite gender. For example, boys have this habit of impressing girls with their grades and behaviour. Same goes for the girls to some extent. Secondly,both genders develop good communication and interpersonal skills by interacting with each other which can be a problem for those ones who study in single-sex schools.Last but not the least, People who study in co-education are usually more comfortable around the opposite gender and behave accordingly because they have interacted with them their whole lives. They don't see them as aliens.

However,I do not see a single benefit of seperate schools for boys and girls. Students who study in single-sex schools behave weirdly around the opposite gender. They see them as strangers. It becomes difficult at times for them to talk to their counterparts.For example, I studied in all boys school. I am a graduate now but i still feel some hindrance while talking to females because i never interacted with them as a child.

While drawing conclusion, I would say single-sex schools are not as beneficial as people think they are. Infact,they damage the students interpersonal skills and leave a lifelong negative impression.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by clearly stating their position against single-sex schools and providing reasons to support this view. Ideas are extended with relevant arguments, such as the development of communication skills and comfort levels around the opposite gender. However, the reasoning tends to be somewhat generalized and repetitive in places, such as reiterating points about how students view the opposite gender. The personal example provided adds some relevance, but overall the development is slightly basic and lacks deeper elaboration. This aligns well with the Band 6 descriptors, as the prompt is addressed with relevant ideas that could be further developed and supported with more precise and varied examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing co-education and single-sex schools, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes mechanical or faulty, such as the phrase 'Last but not the least,' and spacing errors like 'However,I' or 'conclusion, I would say'. Referencing is generally clear, but the logical progression between sentences occasionally feels abrupt. Paragraphing is present and separates main ideas appropriately, though the conclusion is overly brief and informal ('While drawing conclusion'). These features fit the Band 6 descriptor well, where cohesion is sometimes mechanical and referencing is not always completely smooth.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting some less common items such as 'post-graduate level', 'interpersonal skills', and 'counterparts'. However, there are noticeable word choice and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'seperate' instead of 'separate', 'competiton', and awkward phrasing like 'behave weirdly'. Additionally, vocabulary is occasionally repetitive, with frequent use of words like 'gender', 'schools', and 'study'. The errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the score to Band 6, which reflects an adequate range with some inaccuracy in word choice and spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar with structures such as relative clauses ('skills by interacting with each other which can be a problem') and conditional ideas. However, there are frequent punctuation and grammatical errors, including missing spaces after commas and periods ('However,I', 'schools.For example'), article errors ('in all boys school'), and run-on structures. Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear and communication is rarely impeded. This performance matches Band 6, characterized by a mix of simple and complex sentence structures with recurring errors in grammar and punctuation that do not obstruct overall comprehension.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.