Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-24

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In some cultures, children are often told that they can achieve anything if they try hard enough. What are the advantages and disadvantages of giving children this message?

Student answer (Band 6.0)

In some cultures, children and teenagers are often told that they can achieve anything of they try hard enough. While this mindset can encourage perseverance and confidence, it can also create unrealistic expectations of what hard work alone can achieve. Both pros and cons are discussed.

There are a number of advantages that are observed. First of all, growing children with this mindset develop a thought process that they can achieve anything with consistent hard work and patience. It builds confidence and makes them believe that with enough efforts, fruitful results can be obtained. Furthermore. it encourages a growth mindset. They can become more willing to learn new skills and develop curiosity, and give it more time rather than giving up quickly, It builds patience and endurance which are crucial skills for adult life. To give an example, when an average scoring child is motivated and told consistently that with hard work, he/she can score much better when he/she starts studying more with the willingness to score good.

Despite being advantageous, it has a few downsides. To start with, efforts alone cannot guarantee success; natural ability, opportunities, resources and competition also play a significant role and other circumstances also matter. If a child works continuously and despite working hard, he does not obtain the desired results, it can lead to frustration or loosing self-confidence. The child may conclude that they are personally inadequate rather than recognizing external limitations.

To conclude, telling children that they can achieve anything by hard work surely embodies them with confidence, but it may also result into disappointments when effort alone is insufficient.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of telling children they can achieve anything. A clear position is established in the introduction and maintained throughout. Ideas are generally well-developed; for instance, the advantage of building a growth mindset and patience is supported well with the example of an average scoring child. Similarly, the disadvantages covering external limitations and potential frustration are clearly explained. However, the supporting example in the second body paragraph is somewhat clunky and slightly difficult to follow due to grammatical entanglement. Overall, the task is adequately fulfilled, aligning well with the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7, and is best placed at Band 6.5 because some supporting explanations lack precise clarity.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear overall progression. It is divided into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, two body paragraphs exploring pros and cons, and a concise conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader, such as 'First of all', 'Furthermore', and 'Despite being advantageous'. However, there are some minor mechanical issues with cohesion, such as punctuation errors near transition words (e.g., 'Furthermore. it encourages...') and slight repetition in referencing. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct themes. Because the progression is clear despite minor mechanical flaws in cohesion, this performance fits comfortably into Band 7.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate and functional range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully using terms like 'perseverance', 'growth mindset', 'inadequate', and 'external limitations'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with some success, although there are minor inaccuracies and awkward phrasings, such as 'growing children with this mindset' instead of 'instilling children with this mindset', and 'result into' instead of 'result in'. Spelling is generally accurate throughout the response. Because the vocabulary range is sufficient to convey the intended meaning flexibly despite some word choice errors, a Band 6.0 is awarded.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and participial clauses (e.g., 'While this mindset can encourage...', 'If a child works continuously...'). There are, however, several grammatical errors and awkward structures that detract from the overall accuracy. For example, the opening sentence contains a prepositional slip ('achieve anything of they try' instead of 'if they try'), and the sentence starting with 'To give an example, when an average scoring child...' is incomplete or structurally confused. Punctuation errors also appear, such as a full stop used incorrectly before 'it encourages'. Because errors occur frequently enough to occasionally impede smooth reading while a mix of structures remains, a Band 6.0 is appropriate.

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