Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-15

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 6.0)

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". We all are familiar with this proverb and the importance of play in a person's life. Children of primary school should be doing physical activities along with the studies. I believe this is highly important for them as it makes them sharp, confident, healthy and keeps stress away from them.

According to Science, children who take part in physical activities such as sports are relatively sharper than the children who do not do any physical activity. They also tend to pick concepts quicker than the students with no physical activities.

Sports make the children feel more confident about themselves. When they excel in sports, it gives them motivation to do better in studies as well. It also leads to a healthy competition in their minds.

A heathy mind only lies in a healthy body and for a body to be healthy, it is essential for it to be in some exercise. Students who get addicted to studying and take no part in other activites have a greater chance to get sick. On the other hand learners who manage to do both tend to stay healthier.

Students often take a lot of study pressure and this leads them to take stress. In my country a number of students attempt suicide because of the acamedic pressure. If students are engaged in sports, it somewhat keeps them less stressed.

To conclude, primary schools should not get too focused on the formal learning and should make it compulsory on students to take part in sports.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the extent of agreement regarding formal learning and the importance of play in the primary classroom. A clear position is established in the introduction and maintained throughout. The ideas are relevant, noting that play and sports make children sharper, more confident, and less stressed. However, the development of these ideas tends to be somewhat superficial and relies on broad generalisations, such as claiming that healthy minds only lie in healthy bodies and mentioning extreme examples without deep elaboration. While all parts are addressed, the depth of support aligns best with a Band 6.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical structure with a clear introduction and conclusion. Each body paragraph focuses on a distinct sub-theme, such as cognitive sharpness, confidence, health, and stress reduction. However, paragraphing is somewhat elementary, with several very short single-sentence paragraphs that fragment the flow rather than grouping related ideas cohesively. Cohesive devices are minimal, and referencing is at times repetitive (e.g., relying heavily on starting sentences with 'They' or 'Sports'). Overall organisation is apparent, but the progression and mechanical transitions place this firmly at a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as 'physical activities', 'concepts', 'motivation', and 'compulsory'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, though this occasionally results in minor inaccuracies, such as 'take study pressure' and 'take stress', which sound unnatural compared to 'experience academic pressure'. Spelling is generally accurate, with only a minor slip ('heathy' instead of 'healthy'). The lexical range is sufficient to communicate the writer's ideas clearly, though it lacks the flexibility and precision required for higher bands, fitting the Band 6.0 descriptor well.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating conditional structures ('If students are engaged in sports...') and relative clauses. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text, such as 'Children of primary school should be doing' instead of 'Children in primary school', and 'make it compulsory on students' instead of 'make it compulsory for students'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and the errors present do not impede overall communication. The frequency and type of grammatical mistakes are characteristic of a Band 6.0 level.

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

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