Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-15

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people argue that primary schools focus too much on formal learning.

To what extent do you agree with this opinion?

How important do you think it is for children to play as well as learn in the primary school classroom?

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Some people argue that primary schools focus too much on formal learning while other think that playing is as important as learning. I strongly agree that primary schools focus too much on learning rather than other activities which will help in their building skills and increase creativity.

To commence with, overemphasis on formal learning during childhood can stifling a child's curiosity and cognitive growth. When young learners subjected to rigid schedules, difficult tasks and repetitive worksheets. They often become bored and find it a burden on their head rather than engaging with these tasks. For instance, many primary school systems globally have reduced access periods to accommodate extra mathematics and literacy drills. The high pressure environment frequently leads to anxiety, depression and stress to many students. Therefore, education system should be moderate into helpful way for students that not affect their well-being.

Moving on further, play is not merely a break from education. But it helps them to build a skills, develop critical cognitive and social life. For example, in the schools of UK they prefer to children play games like puzzle and cards that improve their critical thinking and problem solving abilities. To clear it, playing physical games, like cricket, football and basketball these games will make them fit and healthy. Hence, playing games for children is as important as learning it will give them knowledge about their health career.

In conclusion, both are important in their own ways such as playing help in their

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, expressing a clear position and discussing the importance of play. However, the essay is incomplete, ending abruptly in the conclusion. This failure to finish the final paragraph significantly impacts the development of ideas and results in the response falling below the 250-word minimum requirement. While the arguments regarding the negative impact of rigid formal learning and the benefits of play are relevant, they are not fully extended due to the abrupt ending. To improve, ensure all parts of the essay are completed and arguments are fully supported with cohesive concluding thoughts.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay uses basic cohesive devices such as 'To commence with' and 'Moving on further' to signal progression. However, the logical flow is disrupted by the incomplete conclusion. Paragraphing is present, but the abrupt termination of the final sentence makes the overall structure feel unfinished. Referencing is generally clear, but some transitions between sentences are slightly mechanical. To reach a higher band, you should focus on ensuring that each paragraph has a clear, finished structure and that cohesive devices are used more naturally to connect ideas across the entire text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas about education and child development. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'stifling' and 'cognitive growth'. However, there are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'education system should be moderate into helpful way' and 'burden on their head'. These errors do not prevent understanding, but they limit the precision of the argument. Expanding your range of collocations and ensuring accurate word forms will help improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with verb forms and sentence fragments. For example, 'can stifling' should be 'can stifle', and 'When young learners subjected to' is missing an auxiliary verb. Additionally, 'education system should be moderate' is grammatically incorrect. While the meaning is generally clear, these persistent errors in basic grammar and sentence construction indicate a need for more careful proofreading and a stronger grasp of verb tense and structure.

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

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