Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-19

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)

It is often argued that schools and colleges provide limited practical training while focusing more on theoretical concepts. I completely agree to the standpoint because unemployment is growing among recent graduates.

To commence with, the main reason why people contend that educational institutes provide minimal practical training is that the increasing number unemployed graduates. To elaborate, since colleges fail to provide job ready skills which are indispensable to work in real-time projects, final year students find it hard to clear their interviews. In the recent years there has been a trend that many companies have stoped hiring freshers as they lack basic foundational competencies. For example, many organizations have to provide an extra training to their interns and freshers so that they can be productive and add some value to their team. They argue that training employees is a time consuming task. As a result, employers prefer to hire employee with a minimum 1 to 2 years of work experience.

In addition to this, schools also fail to provide basic skills which are useful in daily life. They focus more on theories. Additionally, exams are designed to test children's learning capabilities instead of testing their understanding of the subject. Due to this, students race to score higher rather than actually understanding the concepts. Skills such as financial management, communication and interpersonal skills are never taught which are required to deal with everyday challenges. To exemplify, many argue that education system in India is basically a money eating machine. They charge sky-rocketing fees and still children lack confidence while speaking in public because they were only given textbook knowledge.. Most of the students rote and learn answers which helps them score good marks. As a result, cut-offs for colleges and universities are sky-rocketing.

To conclude, this essay has discussed that rising unemployment and lack of basic daily-life skills are the reason why some people contend that institutes do not provide enough practical training.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses the prompt clearly and maintains a consistent position throughout. You have identified two main areas—employability and life skills—to support your argument. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed, though some points, such as the specific mention of the Indian education system, could be more broadly framed to ensure the argument remains universal. The conclusion effectively summarizes the main points discussed. To reach a higher band, ensure that all supporting examples contribute directly to the central argument without becoming too anecdotal or specific to one region, which helps maintain a more academic tone.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use a variety of cohesive devices such as 'To commence with', 'In addition to this', and 'As a result' to link ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct arguments. To improve, focus on using a wider range of cohesive devices and ensure that the progression of ideas within paragraphs is smoother, particularly when moving from the problem (lack of skills) to the consequence (unemployment).

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your ideas clearly. Phrases like 'foundational competencies', 'indispensable', and 'real-time projects' are used effectively. However, there are some instances of slightly awkward phrasing or word choice, such as 'money eating machine' and 'rote and learn'. These are informal and detract from the academic tone. To improve, aim for more precise, formal collocations and avoid colloquialisms. Expanding your vocabulary to include more sophisticated synonyms for common words will help you achieve a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'the increasing number unemployed graduates' (missing 'of'), 'companies have stoped' (spelling error), and 'hire employee' (should be plural). Additionally, there are minor issues with article usage and subject-verb agreement. To improve, focus on proofreading for small errors like missing prepositions or pluralization. Incorporating more varied complex sentence structures, such as conditional clauses or passive voice, would also enhance your grammatical range.

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