Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

In this contemporary era, education plays a vital role. It is often argued that schools and universities focus excessively on factual knowledge while giving insufficient attention to practical knowledge. I partially agree with this idea and in this essay, I will explain the reasons.

There are many reasons why educational institutes focus on theoretical approach. Firstly, factual knowledge provides a strong foundation to the future learning. For instance, pupils who do not have a good base in their subject cannot learn the advance and in-depth concepts. As a result, these children will not have abilities to develop the practical skills. Furthermore, some of the subjects require a strong factual learning. To illustrate, students who learn medicine have to know the human body structure, which help them to understand the problems narrated by the patient. This knowledge is essential for their future profession.

On the other hand, practical skills have their own advantages. To start with, they enable students to apply their theoretical knowledge in real-life situations. For example, instead of simply learning business from textbooks, pupils can attend in internships programs. This will help them to improve their problem-solving skills, teamwork and communication. Moreover, practical experiments can help scholars to face the reality of the world. These students can get prepare for the future careers by making more confident and capable of dealing with the workplace challenges.

To conclude, although the educational institutes are focusing more on factual learning than the practical skills, the practical learning also has its own merit. In my opinion, a balanced approach is the best method. Students should learn theoretical with the practical skills to improve in their career.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all parts of the prompt by providing a clear position and supporting it with relevant arguments. Your introduction establishes a balanced view, and the body paragraphs explore both the necessity of factual knowledge and the benefits of practical skills. The ideas are generally well-developed, such as the example of medical students needing anatomical knowledge. To reach a higher band, ensure that your supporting examples are consistently linked back to the main argument. For instance, while the internship example is good, you could further explain how this specifically addresses the 'too much time' aspect mentioned in the prompt to ensure a more comprehensive response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph has a central theme, and you use cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Furthermore', 'On the other hand', and 'To conclude' effectively to guide the reader. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different viewpoints. Occasionally, the flow between sentences could be smoother; for example, in the second paragraph, the transition between the general foundation of learning and the specific medical example could be more fluid. Overall, the structure is clear and easy to follow throughout the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with some precision. Phrases like 'contemporary era', 'insufficient attention', and 'theoretical approach' are used correctly. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'learn the advance and in-depth concepts' (should be 'advanced') and 'get prepare for the future' (should be 'get prepared'). To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations and idiomatic expressions to move beyond a functional level of vocabulary and demonstrate more flexibility in your writing style.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is always clear, there are recurring grammatical errors that prevent a higher score. Examples include 'provide a strong foundation to the future learning' (should be 'for'), 'these children will not have abilities to develop' (should be 'the ability'), and 'learn theoretical with the practical skills' (should be 'theory with practical skills'). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to suggest a need for more careful proofreading, particularly regarding article usage, prepositional phrases, and word forms.

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