Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-16

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 5.0)

it is often debate the focus to base learning for primary education while certain people believe that it is too focus on formal learning. in my view, i partly believe that there should be a balance with learning and other activities like games and skills acquistion because helps in brain development and in choosing career in the future.

Firstly, it is essential for primary school education to introduce games to the teaching scheme to improve brain development and it increases interaction among the pupils especially for shy ones, for instant, a new student who resume on the day will be shy to minge with other but games are involve, they can start communcation. therefore it can be a point of interaction with friends.

Skills learning can help them focus on another way of employment in the future when their educational degree jobs is not available yet. For youngsters, who got opportunity to balanced learning with skills acquision it increase their knowledge and abilities rather than just teaching to be

in conculsion, in my opinion, it better that children are not only taught in the classroom alone with games and learning of skills to improve brain develop

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, acknowledging the debate surrounding formal learning and expressing a view on balancing learning with play and skills acquisition. However, the ideas are severely underdeveloped due to the extremely short length of 196 words, which falls well below the 250-word minimum requirement. Important aspects of the task, such as explaining the extent of agreement and exploring the importance of play with robust examples, are truncated and lack sufficient elaboration. For instance, the mention of how games help shy children is abrupt and incomplete, trailing off at the end of the essay. Consequently, the task response is restricted to a Band 5 level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The text demonstrates a basic attempt at paragraphing, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, though the conclusion is incomplete. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Firstly' and 'therefore', but their usage is sometimes mechanical or inaccurate (e.g., 'for instant, a new student who resume'). There is a discernible organizational structure, but the overall progression of ideas is hindered by repetitive phrasing and abrupt sentence endings. Paragraphing is faulty, as the final thoughts trail off without proper closure. Referencing is occasionally unclear, which disrupts the logical flow between sentences. Overall, the coherence and cohesion match the Band 5 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally repetitive and basic, meeting only the minimal requirements for the task. The student attempts some less common vocabulary items, such as 'acquistion', 'minge' (intended as mingle), and 'employment', but these attempts are frequently marred by spelling errors and poor word choice. There are noticeable lexical inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'educational degree jobs' instead of graduate jobs, and 'skills learning'. These errors cause some difficulty for the reader and restrict the lexical resource score to a Band 5, as the range remains limited and inadequate for precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The essay displays a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple sentences and faulty attempts at complex clauses. There are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, including capitalization lapses ('it is often debate', 'in conculsion'), subject-verb agreement issues ('games are involve'), and incomplete sentence structures (e.g., 'rather than just teaching to be'). While some simple sentences are correct, errors are frequent and often cause strain for the reader, particularly in the poorly constructed compound and complex sentences. This performance aligns closely with the Band 4 descriptors.

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

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