Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-15

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)

Nowadays, many group of people states that in all stages of education, a lot of amount of time is spent on learning facts and not enough on learning practical skills. If questioned, I strongly agree with this viewpoint. My position is elaborated further with reasons and examples.

The foremost argument to justify my point is that practical skills have a significant role in every student's learning life. Meaning that practical skills such as drawing, playing, etc. Is very helpful in a student's future life. They can learn facts after they complete their studies but practical skills are required to learn during the time you study. For example, whatever you study in your schools or universities, you can not implement on your daily life but if you learn practical skills that you can use in your daily life as well.

However, there are some opposite opinions as well. To begin with, I believe that both facts and practical skills have significant importance in studies. Some people believe that spending more time learning facts is important. Facts such as science rules, formulas, and methods are very important to learn, and that helps for further studies as well, and sometimes it is very helpful in daily life as well. For example, some science facts, we are using them in our daily life as well. So both have their important role.

To conclude, people say that too much time is spent on learning facts rather than learning practical skills. So, I totally agree with this statement because practical skills help to improve future life. However, learning facts also has the same importance as learning practical skills.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position, but the development of ideas is inconsistent. While you argue that practical skills are essential, the supporting examples are vague (e.g., 'drawing, playing'). Furthermore, the essay becomes contradictory in the third paragraph, where you state that you 'totally agree' with the need for more practical skills, yet immediately pivot to arguing that facts have the 'same importance.' This undermines your central argument and makes your position appear indecisive. To improve, ensure that your supporting points consistently reinforce your thesis rather than negating it, and provide more specific, concrete examples of how practical skills could be integrated into curricula.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or repetitive. For instance, the phrase 'in our daily life as well' is used multiple times in close proximity, which makes the flow feel somewhat stunted. Additionally, the transition between the second and third paragraphs is abrupt. While there is an attempt to use linking words like 'To begin with' and 'To conclude,' the logical progression between the arguments is weak because the ideas within the paragraphs are not fully connected to the main thesis. Improving the variety of linking phrases and ensuring each paragraph builds on the previous one would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for a higher band. You rely on basic terms like 'important,' 'helpful,' and 'things.' There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'many group of people states' (should be 'many groups of people state') and 'a lot of amount of time.' To achieve a higher score, you should aim to use more sophisticated vocabulary related to education and skill acquisition, such as 'theoretical knowledge,' 'vocational training,' or 'pedagogical approach.' Expanding your range of synonyms and focusing on accurate word choice will significantly improve your lexical score.

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 clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'many group... states'), incorrect preposition usage, and sentence fragments (e.g., 'Meaning that practical skills... Is very helpful'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of commas and sentence boundaries. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focusing on basic sentence construction, ensuring subjects and verbs agree, and proofreading for minor slips would help improve your accuracy.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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