Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-26

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 a debate on whether the focus of primary schools on formal learning is excessive than needed. I strongly agree that both playing and learning in the classroom is crucial for the overall development of chilren, and primary school should focus on both the aspects.

Firstly, playing is important for the physical and mental well-being of youngsters. Playing initiates the activeness in children either through physical games or computer games. The competitiveness in games forces students to think and thus, makes their thinking sharp. This sharp thinking is beneficial for the youngsters not only on the playground or to play games, but also in other stages of their life. For example, children who play football or online games are often the best at critical thinking, because of their ability to think about different possibilites of situations.

Secondly, learning subjects such as mathematics, history are crucial for child's overall development. Mathematics is a necessity in learning because it is used in every part of life. On the other hand, learning history is highly important to understand the culture and traditions of the country. For instance, the student who is better in playing as well as in classroom learning are always ahead than other children who focusses on only one side of the matrix.

In conclusion, Children should play as much as they can with studying in the classrooms and primary schools should focus on the overall development of children instead focussing only on the classroom teachings.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the two-part prompt by clearly agreeing that formal learning is over-emphasised and arguing for the importance of play in primary schools. A position is presented and maintained throughout the essay. However, some ideas are under-developed, such as the second body paragraph where historical learning is mentioned without deep exploration. Furthermore, the response falls slightly short of the minimum word count, containing only 246 words instead of the required 250, which places a minor ceiling on the Task Achievement score due to length incompletion. Overall, the content is relevant and addresses the prompt directly, but the under-development of supporting points and the word count penalty restrict it to a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised appropriately to separate distinct points regarding play and formal learning. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' are employed to structure the response, although some mechanical usage and referencing issues occur, such as the slightly vague pronoun referencing in 'the student who is better'. Progression is visible, moving from the introduction of the topic to specific arguments regarding play and academic subjects before concluding. Therefore, a Band 6.0 reflects this adequate yet somewhat mechanical organisational framework.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'overall development', 'critical thinking', 'activness' (misspelled as activness), and 'traditional'. There are some attempts at less common lexical items, but inaccuracies in word choice and spelling occur, such as 'focusses' and 'possibilites'. The phrasing 'excessive than needed' in the introduction is awkward and unidiomatic. While meaning is generally clear throughout, these lexical limitations and occasional word choice errors prevent the vocabulary from reaching a higher band. The lexical range is minimally sufficient to convey the student's arguments, earning a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional-like reasoning and relative clauses, such as 'children who play football or online games are often the best at critical thinking'. There are noticeable grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'children... is crucial' and 'Children should play as much as they can with studying'. Articles are occasionally misused, and spelling errors like 'chilren' and 'focusses' detract slightly from the accuracy. However, these errors rarely impede overall communication, and the sentence structures demonstrate a fair degree of control, warranting a Band 6.0 under the descriptors.

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

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