Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-20

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)

In a contemporary society, education is all about learning facts more than learning practical skills. Educational institutions focus more on reading, writing and memorizing which to some extent make learning strenuous and challenging. This essay will analyze whether it is crucial for juvenile to learn practical skills with facts.

A significant number of institutions stress on learning facts and neglect the practical skills. However, practical skills are no less important than learning facts. Learning facts are all about writing, reading and memorizing which is most of the times make learning laborious for a pupil. For instance, a grade 1 student spends most of his time learning and memorizing and he will get exhausted soon. However, if he learns the same topic through practical skill it will be easy for him to process the knowledge and the information will be in his memory for longer period of time.

On the other hand, the majority of institutes are now adopting to teach juvenile through practical skills. To achieve the goal of learning they use songs, rhymes, coloring and materials like dough, papers, cotton, sticks. As learning through some activity help the pupil to understand and learn easily. However, the activity might be time consuming and required a number of efforts and preparation but it achieves it's goal and has lasting results. For instance, a six-years-old pupil of kindergarten will understand phonics more easily through songs or rhymes than by books because through song he learn through actions and use his body which able him to learn quickly.

In my perspective, it is of paramount importance that all educational institutions should adopt practical learning alongside with learning facts because in this way juvenile will be more interested towards learning and learn easily. Moreover, practical learning will also contributes to physical activity. If possible, the government should take measures to bound educational institutions to teach their students also through activities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position throughout, arguing that a balance of facts and practical skills is necessary in education. The main ideas are supported with relevant explanations and examples, such as comparing a grade 1 student learning through memorization versus practical activities like songs and rhymes. However, there is a tendency to over-generalise slightly and some arguments are slightly repetitive, particularly when discussing how children learn through physical activity. Overall, the ideas are sufficiently extended and developed to satisfy the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0, and the response fits comfortably into Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, separating the introduction, two body paragraphs representing different aspects of the argument, and a conclusion. Logical progression is generally maintained, though transitions between sentences can sometimes feel mechanical, such as the repeated use of 'However' and 'For instance'. Cohesive devices are used, but referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'which to some extent make learning' where the pronoun agreement is weak. Paragraphing is adequate, but the internal logical flow within paragraphs could be smoother to achieve higher bands. This performance aligns well with the Band 6 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'contemporary society', 'strenuous', 'paramount importance', and 'phonics'. However, there are noticeable errors in word choice, form, and collocation throughout the text. Examples include 'crucial for juvenile' (should be 'juveniles'), 'institutions stress on' (should be 'stress' without 'on'), 'adopting to teach' (should be 'adapting teaching' or 'adopting methods to teach'), and 'able him to learn' (should be 'enables him'). These errors do not impede communication, placing the response solidly in the Band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar with structures like conditional and relative clauses ('if he learns the same topic...', 'a student who...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors in tense consistency, subject-verb agreement, and articles. Examples include 'Learning facts are all about' (subject-verb agreement), 'most of the times make' (grammar and tense error), 'achieves it's goal' (incorrect apostrophe usage for possessive 'its'), and 'required a number of efforts' (should be 'require'). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the overall meaning, they persist throughout the text and restrict the score to Band 6.0.

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