Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-23

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)

In modern world, people argue that primary schools focus more on formal learning than playing . In my opinion i would agree with this statement nowadays, people main motive is only on learning not on letting children play . I would say that for children growth playing is crucial it not only physically grow but also children mind also make them come to school . For example if children is coming 6 days of week and only thing doing is study they will get frustated it's human nature that if they don't do anything different they get bored and tired . To make children happy , fresh and active schools should organize different activities . If we see countries like U.K they organize sports and other activities outdoors and indoors which not only make their puppils happy but also sharp their mind also through these activites students brainstorm and come to school in happy mood . In primary school basically childrens are growing in aspect of pschology it says that children from 5 to 7 years mind are at grow age they learn through observing and doing activities for example in many schools teachers give blocks to child and ask them to arrange it which sharpen their mind and make them study harder . If we only make pupills to study not to play they might not learn and understand . In conclusion i will say it's major thing to let childrens play instead of making them stuck only to study by letting them joy make things easier .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses both parts of the prompt, expressing clear agreement that primary schools focus too much on formal learning and explaining the importance of play for children. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the mention of U.K. schools provides a relevant example, but the reasoning tends to generalise without deep elaboration. The position is evident throughout the essay, meeting the requirements of a Band 5.5 to 6.0 level. While all parts of the two-part prompt are touched upon, the lack of thorough expansion prevents a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response lacks standard paragraphing, written almost entirely as a single block of text, which severely impacts overall cohesion. Although there are logical links connecting ideas such as 'For example' and 'In conclusion', the absence of clear paragraph divisions makes the progression of the essay difficult to follow. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and cohesive devices are used in a rather mechanical way. This places the performance firmly in the Band 5 category, as the lack of proper paragraphing disrupts the logical flow and organisational structure expected in an academic essay.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common words and phrases like 'frustated', 'brainstorm', and 'psychology'. However, there are notable word-choice, spelling, and collocation errors, such as 'puppils' instead of pupils, 'grow age' instead of developmental stage, and 'make them study harder' where phrasing is awkward. Vocabulary repetition is also noticeable, with terms like 'play', 'learn', and 'activities' recurring frequently. The lexical range is minimally adequate, fitting the Band 5 descriptors where noticeable errors cause some difficulty for the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is weak. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('In modern world', 'for children growth'), subject-verb agreement issues ('children mind also make'), and run-on sentences with comma splices ('To make children happy , fresh and active schools should organize different activities'). Punctuation is frequently incorrect, with spaces before commas and periods throughout the text. Due to the high frequency of grammatical and punctuation errors that occasionally impede understanding, a Band 5 is appropriate.

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

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