Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-17

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 widely believed that educational institutions focus more on theoretical knowledge as compared to vocational courses. I completley disagree with this statement because of the importance of factual knowledge in career advancement and developing students' interest in core subjects from starting.

The most compelling reason for believing this is that the conceptual knowlegde is fundamental for career growth. For securing highly-paid jobs such as doctors, lawyers, teachers and many more professions, certain levels of educational qualification is the pre-requisite. If students do not spend enough time on classroom learning, they may lose these opportunities and fall behind because of increasing competition in academioc sector. Therefore, spending adequate time on theory-based learning at all educational levels is essential for the deeper understanding of concepts and improved performance.

Moreover, learners have less responsibilities during their student life which provides them more time for focusing on academic courses. Because of this, allocating most part of their time towards academics is a wiser choice. As practical skills can be learnt any stage of the life, spending time on these subjects in schools results in wastage of students' valuable time. For instance, people can enroll themselves in short-term cooking course after finishing their university while they may not be able to pass a competitive exam in later stages if they have not spend proper time on gaining academic knowledge during their college days. As a result, although practical skills are essential, they should not be given more importance than core subjects.

In conclusion, despite the fact that practical courses can be beneficial, I believe that it is significant to spend considerable amount of time on learning facts during all levelts of education because these fundamental courses cannot be learnt in later stages of life and the basic knowledge of academics is mandatory for finding better employment opportunities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses the prompt directly by taking a clear and well-developed position against the statement that too much time is spent on facts rather than practical skills. The candidate successfully highlights the importance of theoretical knowledge for career advancement, noting that professions like doctors and lawyers require specific educational qualifications. Ideas are extended and supported with relevant explanations and examples, such as the comparison between long-term academic preparation and short-term practical courses like cooking. While the argument is somewhat one-sided, it fully satisfies the requirements of a General Training Task 2 response by maintaining a clear progression and consistent stance throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay demonstrates a clear overall progression and logical organisation. Paragraphs are structured around distinct central ideas, transitioning smoothly from career advancement in paragraph two to lifestyle flexibility in paragraph three. Cohesive devices such as 'The most compelling reason', 'Moreover', and 'In conclusion' are used appropriately to guide the reader through the argument. Referencing is generally clear, and paragraphing is used effectively to separate main points, although occasional minor awkwardness in linking phrases prevents it from reaching a higher band descriptor.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, attempting less common items such as 'vocational courses', 'pre-requisite', and 'fundamental'. However, there are several noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, including 'completley', 'knowlegde', 'academioc', and 'levelts'. Additionally, phrases like 'from starting' and 'at any stage of the life' show minor inaccuracies in collocation and preposition usage. These errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar and punctuation. Examples of complex structures include conditional clauses and relative clauses, such as 'If students do not spend enough time... they may lose these opportunities'. However, there are recurrent grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('learners have less responsibilities' instead of 'fewer') and article omissions or misuses ('in short-term cooking course'). Despite these frequent minor errors, meaning is rarely obscured, allowing for a comfortable Band 6 performance.

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