Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-27

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 5.5)

This type of practice is observed in several countries, that they feed the minds of children with the context that they can achieve anything. This type of thought may encourage children to buid their self-esteem and confidence. But, sometimes it can induce bad impacts.

Talking about the positive impacts, children groomed in a way, that they knows there is nothing that they are not capable to achieve, can plays a vital role to build the personailty of children in a way, that they will think of no limits. The first doubt that comes in the mind of any person, before starting anything is, "Am, I capable to do this?". This approach helps to take that barrier off from children's minds and this leads to innovations and new discoveries. Which ultimately helps the country to develop. For example, in china children from very young age are exposed to technology, specially to mechanical work. This approach helped them to accelerate in that field and is the largest country in producing that type of goods.

On the other hand, it may have bad impacts. Every children do have different ways to think and have different personality accordingly. Despite that fact that, they are being taught same things. But, the outcomes can vary from child to child. It may depends on the environment they are brought up. That is why, it may be harmfull for the society to teach children, that they can do anything. This anything consitutes of different type of things. Lets suppose, a children watched a super-hero movie or a series related to bank robbery and got inspired by a specific character. This approach may leads a children to do unethical activities, by keeping in mind, that I can do anything.

In my opinion, it can be premature to say that, it is absolutely right to tell children that they can do anything. This approach do have many positive effects. But, it should be exercised in a way by explaining children, that they can achieve anything for good in certain types of fields.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both the advantages and disadvantages of telling children they can achieve anything. A clear position is presented throughout the essay, beginning with the introduction and concluding in the final paragraph. Ideas are generally relevant, discussing self-esteem, innovation, and potential negative consequences like misunderstanding the scope of 'anything'. However, the development of ideas tends to be slightly simplistic and repetitive, and the example regarding China is a generalisation rather than a well-supported specific illustration. Additionally, the final example involving bank robbery lacks complete logical coherence. These tendencies place the response at a Band 6, as all parts are addressed with relevant ideas, but some points lack deeper extension and clarity.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph-by-paragraph structure separating the introduction, advantages, disadvantages, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'Talking about the positive impacts' and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and logical linking are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, sentences within paragraphs can feel disjointed due to awkward phrasing and punctuation issues, such as 'Despite that fact that, they are being taught same things. But, the outcomes can vary...' These mechanical transitions and occasional tracking issues prevent the essay from reaching a higher band, making Band 6 an accurate reflection of its cohesive qualities.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student attempts a range of vocabulary appropriate for the task, such as 'self-esteem', 'innovations', 'unethical activities', and 'premature'. However, there are numerous word choice, collocation, and form errors throughout the text. Examples include 'feed the minds', 'buid' (build), 'bad impacts' (negative effects), 'harmfull', and 'consitutes of' (consists of). While the vocabulary used is adequate to convey the core message, these recurring lexical errors and miscollocations indicate a Band 5 level, as the errors are noticeable and occasionally cause slight difficulty for the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in structure. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in punctuation, subject-verb agreement, and clause structures. Examples include comma splices and misplaced commas ('children groomed in a way, that they knows there is nothing...'), incorrect verb forms ('Every children do have'), and awkward relative clauses. These errors are frequent and recurrent across the text, though they rarely obscure the overall meaning entirely, placing the grammar score solidly at Band 5.

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