Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-30
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)
Nowadays, some people believe that schools and universities spend too much time teaching facts and not engough time teaching practical skills. I partly agree with this view because both knowledge and practical skills are important for students.
On the one hand,learning facts is important for good education. Actually, stuents need basic knowledge before they come up real life and they use it. For example,children must learn basic numer and maths before they can understand how to count money. Moreover, medical student learn about human body before they treat patiant.
On the other hand, practical skill are `also important and helpful for individuals life. Many students can remember all kind of information for exams but they cannot have proper knowledge about how to use it in outside life. For instance, a student may know every grammar rules how use it in english launguage but they face difficulties to speak in front if other people. Also, students learn mathematicas very well but they cannot have proper knowledge about how to make a budget , save money .
In conclusion, both facts and practical skills are important in education. But however , schoolq and universities shouls give more attention to practical skills because it is very necessary for student how use their knowqledge in real life.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student addresses the prompt by taking a clear, partial position ("I partly agree with this view"). Relevant ideas are presented regarding both facts and practical skills, supported by examples such as basic numeracy and language learning. However, the response falls significantly short of the 250-word minimum, containing only 213 words. This under-length impacts the full development of ideas, which is a key requirement for higher bands. While the core arguments are relevant, they remain somewhat superficial due to the restricted word count, placing this criterion solidly in Band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The text demonstrates a clear overall structure with an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting opposing sides, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised adequately to separate distinct ideas. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or faulty, as seen in transitions like "On the one hand... On the other hand... But however". Referencing is occasionally unclear, and punctuation errors (such as spacing before commas) detract from the flow. Progression is somewhat repetitive, limiting the score to Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic arguments about education and practical skills. However, there are numerous spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, such as "engough" for enough, "stuents" for students, "numer" for numbers, "patiant" for patients, and "launguage" for language. Less common lexical items are attempted ("individuals life", "proper knowledge"), but inaccuracies in collocation and spelling constrain the vocabulary score to Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as "Many students can remember all kind of information for exams but they cannot have proper knowledge about how to use it..." However, grammatical accuracy is weak, featuring frequent errors such as missing articles ("human body", "english launguage"), incorrect pluralisation ("practical skill", "grammar rules"), and poor clause structures ("how use it", "how to make a budget , save money"). These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, resulting in a Band 5.0 score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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