Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-18

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)

There is growing concern that primary institutions place overly focus on academic learning. I partly agree with this view as children need to develop basic academic skills, however, excessive classroom base learning can limit social, physical and creative development. Therefore, play deserve much greater role and should be part of formal education.

To mention a few, there are many reasons why formal education play essentail role in puplis early age stage development such as reading, writing and mathematics. Furthermore, these skills asist to understand the stuidents more complex subjects throughout the school period. However, if student spend whole day sitting at desk and complete worksheet and test he may be loose his interest in learning. Young chidren generally have shorter attenation span, so lessons entirely based on formal instruction will not always effective.

On the other hand, play is highly appreciated as its allow to children to learn in most natural and enjoyable way, such as games and group activites. They can develop communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills. Physical play can also help them to stay activer and heathy.

For example, a teacher could use a simple mathematics game in which children work in teams to solve problems. In this way, they can practise mathematical skills while also developing cooperation and communication.

In conclusion, although formal academic learning is necessary in primary schools, I believe that it should be balanced with sufficient opportunities for play. A combination of structured lessons and educational play can help children develop academically while also supporting their social, physical and creative growth.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student addresses both parts of the prompt: agreeing partly with the focus on formal learning and discussing the importance of play in the primary classroom. A clear position is established from the introduction and maintained throughout the essay. Ideas are generally extended and supported, such as the example of using a mathematics game in teams. However, some arguments lack full development, and there are occasional over-generalisations or awkward phrasings like 'excessive classroom base learning'. Overall, the response meets the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7, fitting best into Band 6.5 as some ideas remain slightly under-developed or unclear.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression of ideas from academic skills to the benefits of play, culminating in a clear conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately, dividing the introduction, body points, example, and conclusion into distinct sections. However, cohesive devices are sometimes faulty or mechanical, and referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in phrases like 'To mention a few, there are many reasons' and 'if student spend whole day... he may be loose'. Transitional links between sentences could be smoother to achieve a higher band. These characteristics align well with the Band 6 descriptor.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'cooperation', 'problem-solving skills', and 'structured lessons'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors that occur throughout the text, including 'overly focus' instead of 'overly focused', 'classroom base learning' instead of 'classroom-based learning', 'puplis' for 'pupils', 'estaintial' for 'essential', 'asist' for 'assist', 'stuidents' for 'students', and 'activer' for 'active'. These lexical inaccuracies prevent the score from reaching a Band 7, placing it firmly at Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some attempt at subordination and conditional structures, such as 'although formal academic learning is necessary... I believe that...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors in verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and plurals, including 'play deserve much greater role', 'formal education play', 'if student spend... he may be loose', 'lessons... will not always effective', and 'its allow to children'. Although these errors do not impede overall communication, they occur consistently enough to restrict the score to a Band 5.5.

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

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