Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-26

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)

Some individuals argue that plenty of time is spent in teaching theory, rather than practical skills at the educational institutions. I completely agree with that and I think more emphasis should be given on practical skills, so the students are better prepared to get a job when they step out of colleges.

Firstly, I think more time should be spent on teaching practical skills as majority of students coming out of universities are not well equipped to start a career as they lack real-world skills. That is quite evident from the fact that a lot of the students have to do further courses when the step out of the college, despite of doing bachelors or masters degree in their area of expertise.

Secondly, educational institutions also lack the ability to teach practical life skills which can prepare the youngsters to manage their life apart from work. Few examples of such skills are financial budgeting, time management, paying taxes and writing letters/emails. These are very basic skills which the students should be taught irrespective of the course that they opt for.

Nevertheless, it is important to learn theory as that sets the foundation and ground work for the other skills, as it is impossible to learn financial budgeting if you do not know the basics of mathematics, but I think more emphasis needs to be given to practical knowledge to balance out the difference.

In conclusion, I agree that all educational institutions, from primary schools to universities, spend more time on theory instead of practical. While theory is important to set the basics, I think they should spend more resources on teaching practical skills as well, which can better equip the students to face the real-world scenarios.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. You have provided relevant arguments regarding the need for practical skills in the workplace and daily life. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For example, while you mention financial budgeting and time management, these points could be further extended with specific examples of how these skills would be taught or integrated into the curriculum. The conclusion effectively summarizes your stance, but the overall depth of the argument is more characteristic of a Band 6.5 or 7.0 response, as it touches on the issues without fully exploring the implications or counter-arguments in detail.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use transition signals such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'Nevertheless' to guide the reader through your argument. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. However, the cohesion is sometimes a bit mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as 'the step out of the college', which is slightly awkward. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of cohesive devices and ensuring that the flow between sentences is more natural and less reliant on simple sequence markers.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'expertise', 'educational institutions', and 'real-world scenarios'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are instances of slightly unnatural phrasing, such as 'manage their life apart from work' or 'balance out the difference'. While your meaning is always clear, the vocabulary lacks the precision and sophistication required for higher bands. To improve, try to incorporate more topic-specific collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing. The current level is sufficient for communication but does not show the flexibility needed for a Band 7 or above.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this level. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'despite of doing bachelors' (should be 'despite doing' or 'in spite of doing') and 'when the step out' (should be 'when they step out'). Additionally, there are minor punctuation and article usage errors throughout. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. To improve, focus on mastering the use of prepositions and ensuring subject-verb agreement in more complex sentence constructions.

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

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