Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-13
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Some people say that in all levels of education, from primary schools to universities, too much time is spent on learning facts and not enough on learning practical skills.
Do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
Mostly people believe that education from primary level to universities level always focus on learning facts not too much on practical skills. I totally agree with statement.
As we all see our education system only spend time on remembering concepts and formulas mostly. For example, in my school time my school teacher always told us to focus on repetition and learning maths formulas and in science they always focus on how we remember the steps involved in experiments but there is actually need a practical work because experiments is a learning not for remembering. Its a thing does practically by hand and in live practices.
Some students always face problems when they learn and hold a memory for long time but with practical, they learn more and remember study concepts easily. For example, if science teacher explains parts of leave with real leaves that impact more on students as compared to just verbally told the students about leaves. Also, we always see that our small child learns body parts when we explained by touching their body parts, so they learn practically not verbally.
practices skills help to improve motor skills of students and leering verbally only increase memories sharps, but we need practices which helps to better understanding of life related phenomena. practicals are more liked by students as compare only got written knowledge. as scientizes also proven that practicals skills are long lasting knowledge as compared to learning only facts.
in my conclusion, I fully agree with statement that our education system is only focused on learning facts more not on skills. I future hope practicals skills will be more valuable than learning.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by clearly stating a position in favor of practical skills over rote learning. The ideas are relevant, such as the mention of science experiments and motor skills development. However, the development is somewhat repetitive and lacks depth. For instance, the argument about 'learning body parts' is a bit simplistic for an academic essay. While the position is clear throughout, the supporting examples could be more sophisticated to reach a higher band. The essay covers all parts of the task, but the explanation of why practical skills are superior remains at a surface level, limiting the overall impact of the argument.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the argument. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. For example, the transition 'in my conclusion' is used, but the preceding paragraph lacks a strong concluding thought. There are instances where referencing is unclear, such as 'Its a thing does practically', which disrupts the flow. The progression of ideas is generally logical, but the lack of varied linking words makes the writing feel somewhat disjointed. Improving the use of transition signals would significantly enhance the coherence of the response.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. The student relies on basic terms like 'learning', 'remember', and 'things'. There are several word-choice errors, such as 'scientizes' instead of 'scientists' and 'leering' instead of 'learning'. The phrase 'memories sharps' is also non-standard. While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of sophisticated vocabulary and the presence of errors in word formation and collocation prevent a higher score. To improve, the student should focus on using more academic collocations and precise terminology related to education.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede readability. Issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'Mostly people believe'), missing articles (e.g., 'in my school time'), and incorrect verb forms (e.g., 'experiments is a learning'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with several run-on sentences and missing commas. While the student attempts complex structures, they are often faulty. The frequency of these errors suggests a need for more careful proofreading and a better grasp of basic sentence construction and grammatical rules.
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.