Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-16

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some university students want to learn about other subjects in addition to their main subjects. Others believe it is more important to give all their time and attention to studying for a qualification. Discuss both these views and give your opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 6.0)

It is often argued by some people that schools should teach kids some practical life-skills such as money management, cooking, and basic repairs, along with their traditional school curriculum. While skeptics oppose this notion and believe that institutions ought to focus solely on traditonal academic subjects. In my views, schools should create proper strategy to develop such skills in their students, so it would not affect their students' acedemic learning.

To commence with, teaching essential practical skills such as money management , cooking and basic repair can create a singnificant impact on an individual's life. Habits related to money such as budgeting, saving, and investing help individuals to handle their money effectively. Moreover, they will avoid impulsive buying and start saving for their retirement at an early age. Similarly, skills like cooking and repairing save individuals from unnecesary expenses and these skills are also helpful when they are living far from their homes. For instance, most individuals move to overseas or other cities to pursue higher education, such life skills help them to manage in different environment.

However, schools should focus only on academic subjects, so students would not lose interest in them. It is seen that students start avoiding important subjects such as english and science, if they are introduced with such recreational subjects. Consequently, this would impact the academic learning of an individual which directly impact their professional career. Students should focus on their professional career first, as these skills can also be learned later in life.

To some up, teaching children important skills not only helps them to manage their finances bult also helps them to survive and adjust in different enviornment. Whereas, such activities can reduce interest of student in other subjects which are necessary for their professional life. I personally beleive that institutes should manage curriculum properly and accordingly so their students can learn these skills without impacting academic studies which are significant for their professional life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views (learning other subjects vs. focusing strictly on main subjects) and providing a clear personal opinion. However, there is a notable mismatch between the introduction/body paragraphs and the actual prompt. The prompt asks about university students learning other subjects alongside their main subjects, whereas the student discusses children learning practical life skills like cooking and money management in schools. Despite this noticeable shift in the topic context, the candidate develops relevant ideas and extends them with supporting explanations and examples. Therefore, the task is addressed adequately, but the misunderstanding of the target demographic prevents a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is arranged into a clear four-paragraph structure with an introduction, two body paragraphs representing opposing views, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader, such as 'To commence with', 'Moreover', and 'However'. However, paragraphing and referencing occasionally feel a bit mechanical. Furthermore, the transition sentences sometimes contain awkward phrasing, such as 'While skeptics oppose this notion and believe that institutions ought to focus solely on traditonal academic subjects', which is left as a fragment. Logical progression is generally maintained throughout, but cohesion could be more naturally integrated to reach a higher descriptor level.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student attempts a range of vocabulary appropriate for an academic essay, including terms like 'curriculum', 'impulsive buying', and 'professional career'. There are, however, several spelling errors ('traditonal', 'singnificant', 'unnecesary', 'bult', 'enviornment', 'beleive') and instances of awkward word choice or phrasing ('create proper strategy', 'singnificant impact'). While these errors are noticeable, they do not severely impede communication, as the writer's meaning remains understandable. The lexical range is adequate for the task, fitting the Band 6 profile.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and relative clauses. There are several grammatical errors and punctuation slips throughout the text. For example, 'In my views' should be 'In my view', and the sentence starting with 'While skeptics...' is a sentence fragment. Other errors include subject-verb agreement issues ('if they are introduced with such recreational subjects') and article misuse. Despite these recurring errors, the meaning is rarely obscured, representing a typical Band 6 performance where complex structures are attempted with mixed success.

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.