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 argue that primary school focus too much on formal learning . I strongly agree with this statement because instead of focusing on formal learning we should focus on children intrest in sports and children whose are outstanding in sports are more healthier and talented than others

The main reason why i agree is that playing any kind of sport is helpfull for children . This is because during playing children mind is very active he had to take many decision fast to win the game it will help him in other aspects of life when he had to take decisions early . For instance during race only one student win the race while others has to face faliure this faliure help these student how to achive his goal after couple of faliures .

Another important reason is that it will benifit children physical and mental health because during playing children all body parts are active and children do a lot of excercise which will benifit his legs and brain and also it will help him in digesting the food . for example , if a children is getting heavy meal daily and getting a lot of fat and sitting always on the chair in school because school did not offer any kind of sports activities the children might get a lot of diseses if school is offering this kind of activities children can easily burn fat and also can improve is physical health .

IN conclusion , i agree that playing has many advantages than teaching formal learning because the brain become active to take early decisions and help in maintaining good health

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student addresses all parts of the task by stating their strong agreement with the prompt and discussing the importance of play alongside formal learning. The position is clear throughout the response. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive, particularly regarding decision-making and physical health. While examples are provided, such as a running race and a child getting a heavy meal, they are generalised and lack sufficient depth to reach a higher band. Ideas tend to be stated rather than fully elaborated, which aligns this response with Band 5 descriptors where ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response shows some organisation with clear paragraph breaks separating the introduction, two body paragraphs, and the conclusion. However, overall progression is hindered by frequent structural and grammatical disruptions. Cohesive devices are basic and sometimes inaccurate, such as repetitive use of 'because' and 'for example'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen with pronouns like 'he' and 'his' used ambiguously. There is a lack of smooth transitions between sentences, making the text feel mechanical at times. This corresponds to the Band 5 descriptor where there is some organisation but no clear overall progression, and cohesive devices are inadequate or inaccurate.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, frequently circling around words like 'learning', 'playing', 'children', and 'sports'. There are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'intrest' instead of interest, 'helpfull' with double l, 'faliure' instead of failure, 'achive', 'benifit', and 'diseses'. These errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a limited lexical range. Although the student attempts to express complex ideas, the vocabulary lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. This performance sits comfortably within Band 5, featuring a limited but minimally adequate range with noticeable errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar and punctuation is weak. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'children ... are more healthier', 'children mind is very active', 'children all body parts are active'), run-on sentences, and missing articles or punctuation. Punctuation is particularly problematic, with spaces misplaced before commas and full stops, and multiple clauses strung together without proper boundary markers. These frequent errors cause difficulty for the reader at times, placing the writing firmly at Band 5 due to limited structures and frequent grammatical faults.

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.