Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-22

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)

Schools are the places where the students learn from basic to intermediate level and then for higher studies they go to the college or the university. These are the places where they learn many things besides of studies. The primary schools are desinged in such a way that learning become easy for them.

Upto nurserary class, there are proper steup of swings and many other things like that to provide them a environment where they can learn and play together. These things, no doubt a step towards the learning and development of students brain.Primary schools are generally teach upto five class. This is the time when with the study they also need to grow ohysically and mentally. Many school have proper setup of indoor and outdoor games for students. Indoor games provide them with the skills that help to grow their brains while on the other hand, physical games grom them physically. These activities should be there in every school and it must be assure by the government.

It is observed that, schools that give student a proper peroid for the activities besides of studies are much pouplar among them. Students in those schools never make fake excuses for holidays. Also students from these schools show much better performace than the other schools who just focus on formal learning. Students not only show good results in exams, they also win competitons and games at district level.

So with the formal education, games or other activities are also important and it sholud be imposed on every school by education department.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both questions: it argues that formal education should be balanced with play and says activities should be available in every school. Relevant support includes the contrast between indoor games developing thinking skills and physical games supporting physical growth, as well as the claim that pupils in activity-rich schools perform better. However, the extent of agreement is not stated clearly at the outset, and several claims are asserted rather than explained—for example, that these pupils make fewer excuses to miss school and achieve better results. The discussion also gives limited attention to why formal learning might be excessive. Make your position explicit and develop fewer examples with clearer explanations of how play benefits children’s learning and wellbeing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some organisation: the response moves from a general introduction to the role of play, then gives claimed outcomes before concluding that both learning and activities matter. Paragraph breaks help distinguish these stages. However, progression is not consistently clear, and the opening discussion of colleges and universities does little to establish the argument. Connections between ideas can feel mechanical, particularly in “while on the other hand,” and the repeated references to “schools,” “students,” and “activities” make the response less cohesive. Some links between claims are also unclear, such as how fewer holiday excuses demonstrate educational benefits. Use a more direct introduction, organise each body paragraph around one main point, and explain the relationship between evidence and claims.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the central ideas, with relevant terms such as “formal education,” “indoor and outdoor games,” “physically and mentally,” and “competitions.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, which sometimes makes the reader pause. For example, “setup of swings” and “proper period for the activities” are not natural ways to express the intended ideas, while “grow their brains” is imprecise. There are also frequent spelling errors, including “desinged,” “nurserary,” “pouplar,” and “performace.” Build a more precise range for discussing play and learning, and proofread spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response mainly uses simple sentence patterns, with some attempts to combine ideas using clauses and contrast, as in “Students not only show good results in exams, they also win competitions.” However, complex structures are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to follow. Examples include “The primary schools are generally teach” and “These things … a step,” where verb forms or sentence structure are incomplete or incorrect. Agreement and articles also need attention, as in “Many school have” and “provide them a environment.” Practise forming complete sentences with accurate subject–verb agreement, articles, and verb patterns, then check punctuation and sentence boundaries.

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.