Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-11

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)

In this modern world, many people believe that students in primary schools must participate in extra curriculum activites insted of just focusing on formal education. There are large number of schools which majorly focus on academics only during the primary education. To some extent it is not a good thing.

School authoroties say that they focus on academics during the primary school because it will help them build a strong foundation for their higher education and will also help them in their professional life. It will also encourage them to be consistent during their higher education. For example, a student with strong academic background and critical skills is more likely to get accepted by high ranking universities which will elevate his professional life as well.

On the other hand, critics argue that students must be involved in some other activities like sports, music, debate and several other benifical activities from their primary school. It will help them to ruduce their academic stress and develop recreational skills because all five fingers are not the same. For instance, a student is not good in academeics but he can perform very well in sports or any other activity, he must be encourage to perform that activity in a healthy environment. If schools are unable to provide that environment that student will turn worst in academics as well.

In conclusion, i truly agree that formal education is necessary for every student but educational institutes should not be just stick to academics. They must provide other facilities to the students that will help them to elevate their productivity and analytical skills. There must be a spare time for such a kind of activities in a school's every day routine and students should be free to chose any kind of activity.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the extent of agreement regarding formal learning and the importance of play. The position is clear throughout, and the ideas are relevant. However, the development is somewhat limited. While the arguments for academic focus and the benefits of extracurricular activities are presented, they lack depth and specific, illustrative examples. The phrase 'all five fingers are not the same' is an idiom that does not quite fit the context of academic versus recreational ability, and the argument could be strengthened by more concrete examples of how play specifically enhances cognitive or social development in a primary school setting.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. There is a progression of ideas from the introduction to the body paragraphs and the conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the other hand', 'For instance', and 'In conclusion', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are a bit mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally slightly awkward, such as the transition between the discussion of academic stress and the idiom about fingers. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate and the flow of ideas is generally easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to convey their meaning clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'academic stress', 'recreational skills', and 'analytical skills'. However, there are several spelling errors ('activites', 'insted', 'authoroties', 'benifical', 'ruduce', 'academeics', 'chose') and some word choice issues, such as 'turn worst' instead of 'perform worse' or 'deteriorate'. The range is sufficient for the task, but the frequent spelling mistakes and occasional imprecise word choices prevent a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and article usage (e.g., 'a large number of schools which majorly focus', 'a student is not good in academeics'). Punctuation is generally functional, though there are minor issues with capitalization (e.g., 'i' instead of 'I'). The errors do not significantly impede communication, but they are frequent enough to suggest a lack of control over more complex structures, keeping the score in the 6.0 range.

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