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)

In recent years, a group of individuals thinks that learning from primary schools to universities degree is a waste of time because they mainly focused on learning facts, instead of teaching practical skills. I strongly agree with the given statement. This essay will discuss reasons along with the examples in the following paragraphs.

One of the main causes is that youngsters might not manage their finance properly. This is because across the academic years they solely focused on the academic subjects, rather than learning any real life skills. If they have more focus on their core subjects, they may not able to maintain balance in their finance, regardless of their income. For instance, in India, a small businessman would teach their children a real life skills, which helps them to grow wisely and manage their business in the future.

Furthermore, skills such as handling pressure and managing time are also a key factors at workplace, in which colleges or universities are not being teaching that how to cope with this types of situation. Provided that a master degree holder face these type of circumstances at workplace, they may fail to overcome this problems and remain clueless. For example, in Canada, many workers on the workflour are fully rely on their supervisor's decision, intead of trying to solve any common issues. Hence, they will be remain lack of practical skills for the rest of the life.

To conclude, although academic education is indeed to clear a base and create better foundation of knowledge, universities or colleges must teach real life skills to their learners, in which they can implements in their own life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by clearly stating a position agreeing that too much time is spent on learning facts rather than practical skills. The ideas are relevant and supported with examples, such as the mention of small businessmen in India and workers in Canada. However, some arguments lack full extension and the development is somewhat simplistic. For instance, the transition from academic focus to personal finance is stated rather than thoroughly explored. The position is maintained throughout the essay, but the depth of thought places the response comfortably within the Band 6 descriptor range, where relevant ideas are presented but remain slightly under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as financial management in the second paragraph and workplace pressure in the third. Cohesive devices are employed, although some are used mechanically or awkwardly, such as 'Provided that a master degree holder face these type of circumstances'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, as seen with pronouns like 'they' and 'this' where the antecedent is ambiguous. Overall, the organizational structure is logical enough to ensure the progression of ideas, aligning well with the Band 6 criteria.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common phrases such as 'real life skills' and 'financial management'. However, there are notable limitations and inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, including 'workflour' instead of 'workflow' or 'workforce', 'remain lack of practical skills', and 'a universities degree'. Spelling errors and incorrect word forms occasionally create slight strain for the reader, though communication is generally maintained. These features are characteristic of Band 5 lexical control, displaying a minimally adequate range with noticeable errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing conditional structures and relative clauses (e.g., 'If they have more focus on their core subjects...'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak throughout the text, featuring frequent errors such as subject-verb agreement issues ('a group of individuals thinks', 'master degree holder face'), tense inconsistencies ('are not being teaching', 'will be remain'), and plural/singular noun mismatches ('this types of situation'). While communication is rarely completely obscured, the high frequency of non-systematic structural errors prevents the essay from reaching Band 6, placing it at Band 5.

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