Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-13

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)

Educational institutions are the building blocks of any country, which showcase the path of future to the juveniles. Some individuals opine that ranging from the elementary level upto the tertiary level, the emphasis has been given on teaching the theoratical knowledge instead of learning hands-on skills. I strongly agree with this perspective.

The traditional method of teaching, in which the students are promoted to learn from literature and written transcripts, is still being carried out in most parts of the globe in spite of the fact that modernization has revolutionized every sector including education. The primary reason for this is the lack of financial resorces, especially in the vast sections of society. Due to economic instability, a comparitively less amount of money has been allocated globally in development of futuristic labs and other necessary workshops. Hence, the teachers are undoubtedly forced to teach using available resouces such as books.

Conspiciously, there has been a significant change in the mindset of the learners as well over the past few decades. With the availability of mobile phones almost in every hand, the trainees tend to learn the practical skills by the means of Youtube and other online platforms. In fact, they believe that they have become professionals only by watching the training sessions. Thus, even the keen learners from the top teer do not demand for proper infrastructure and necessary material required for hands-on training. Although such online classes are highly informational in terms of learning, these cannot replace the original practical training.

In conclusion, based on the aforementioned reasons of non-seriousness and lack of basic labs and workshops, I support the viewpoint that comparitively large number of hours are spent on learning theory regardless of knowing the importance of having practical skills.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response7.0
Coherence and Cohesion7.0
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing the balance between theoretical knowledge and practical skills across different levels of education. The writer presents a clear, well-supported position ("I strongly agree with this perspective") and maintains it throughout the essay. Ideas are extended with relevant points about financial constraints, lack of infrastructure, and the shift towards online learning platforms like YouTube. Although some points could be explored in greater depth, the response adequately covers the prompt, meeting the criteria for Band 7.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay displays a clear logical organization and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, beginning with an introduction, followed by body paragraphs exploring economic constraints and student mindset, and concluding effectively. Cohesive devices such as "The primary reason for this", "Conspiciously", and "In conclusion" are used appropriately to guide the reader through the argument. Paragraphing is logical and sufficient, supporting the overall coherence of the response at a Band 7 level.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary with some flexibility and precision, employing less common items such as "educational institutions", "tertiary level", "economic instability", and "infrastructure". However, there are a few noticeable spelling and word choice errors, including "theoratical" instead of theoretical, "resorces" and "resouces" instead of resources, and "teer" instead of tier. These errors do not impede communication, but they prevent the score from reaching higher bands where greater lexical accuracy is expected. Overall, the lexical resource is characteristic of Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including relative clauses and conditional structures (e.g., "Educational institutions are the building blocks..., which showcase..."). There is a good variety of complex structures attempted, though some grammatical inaccuracies occur, such as "ranging from the elementary level upto the tertiary level, the emphasis has been given" (dangling modifier/awkward passive construction) and "a comparitively less amount of money" (quantifier usage with uncountable nouns). Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication, placing the response securely at Band 6.0.

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

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