Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-07

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)

Some people maintain that all levels of education spend much more time on learning facts and less time on learning practical skills, others hold opposing opinion assuming that it is a school responsibility to offer theoretical lessons more than practical skills.

I completely agree with this statment that all students should be offered more learning facts while they are in schools or universities, rather than getting practical skills, and the following essay wih explain my position using relevant evidence.

To begin with ,a large number of people believe that all levels of education from primary schools to universities should spend more time on learning facts, because students only obtain theoretical facts from these establishments, and practical skills could be gained later in life, in the workplace or in the training centers. Therefore, they encourage this theory and support all education levels to offer more information for their learners.

In addition to this, students who gain more learning facts throughout their academic life, tend to be more successful in their life career and offer more professional abilities for the society. For example, a recent study conducted by Harvard University in 2019, shows that 55 percent of the successful CEO's and businessmen all over the world, obtained enough theoretical lessons throughout their life.

To sum up, althought many people believe that practical skills should be involved in the academic life of a student, others assume that practical skills should be learned in training centers or in the workplace, rather than offering education facts with training skills together in schools.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt, but the position is contradictory. While the introduction states 'I completely agree... that all students should be offered more learning facts', the body paragraphs argue that practical skills should be learned elsewhere. This creates confusion regarding your stance. Furthermore, the argument is underdeveloped; the claim that 55% of CEOs obtained 'enough theoretical lessons' is a vague statistic that does not directly prove that schools should prioritize facts over practical skills. To improve, ensure your position is consistent throughout and provide more logical, well-reasoned explanations for your claims rather than relying on unsupported assertions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'In addition to this' and 'To begin with'. The logical progression is hindered by the inconsistency in the argument mentioned in the task achievement section. Referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly in the conclusion, where the summary does not accurately reflect the arguments presented in the body paragraphs. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph flows logically from the previous one would enhance the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. You rely on basic phrasing such as 'learning facts' and 'practical skills' repeatedly throughout the text. There are also some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'offer more information for their learners' and 'offer more professional abilities for the society'. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more sophisticated vocabulary and idiomatic expressions, and ensure that your word choices are contextually appropriate and precise.

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. For example, 'others hold opposing opinion assuming that it is a school responsibility' lacks an article, and 'wih explain' is a typo. There are also issues with punctuation and sentence construction, such as the comma splice in the first paragraph. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors suggests a need for more careful proofreading and a better grasp of complex sentence formation and article usage.

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