Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-02

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)

In todays world, it is oftenly argued that educational institutes, from primary schools to universities, spend too much time on theoretical facts as compared to practical skills. While I agree with this statement as it is important for students future lives, but I also believe that learning facts are crucial for successful education. This essay will further elaborate these view points in the upcoming paragraphs.

On the one hand, gaining theoretical knowledge provides pupils a strong foundation in different subjects as it gives an opportunity to the students to learn about basic concepts before performing any real life experiments. For instance, science students needs to learn about the chemical reactions before performing any practical task with different chemical compounds for their safety. Apart from this, learning facts for some subjects such as engeenering, law and medicine plays a vital role in professional life. Thus, factual knowledge is important for a successful career growth.

On the other hand, real life experience assist individuals to build strong skills like communication, leadership qualities as well as boost their confidence which plays a vital role in employment sectors. This is because sometimes, employees have good knowledge about the business but they have lack of confidence to run a business independently. Therefore, providing students with presentations or practical experiments or internship helps them to apply their theoretical knowledge in to real life situations.

To conclude, although students who are focusing more in learning facts can build a strong foundation in different subjects, but practical experiences are also crucial for them as it helps them to boost their confidence in real life tasks as well as they can learn qualities such as leadership, team work or communication skills which can assist them in their professional career. Thus, educational institutes needs to follow a balanced approach for both kind of studies.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position throughout, successfully discussing both the importance of theoretical facts and the need for practical skills. Main ideas are relevant, presenting arguments about workplace readiness and foundational knowledge in education. However, some ideas show the characteristics of this band level by being slightly under-developed or tending to over-generalise. For instance, the discussion on how real-life experience builds confidence could be extended with more specific elaboration on how this directly impacts career progression. To reach a higher band, the response needs to fully develop all ideas with deeper explanations and more comprehensive supporting evidence rather than skimming the surface of multiple points.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response maintains a clear logical organisation and progression throughout, with a coherent overall arrangement that guides the reader easily from introduction to conclusion. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, grouping ideas logically with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs representing opposing views, and a summary conclusion. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well to connect sentences and paragraphs, such as 'On the one hand', 'Apart from this', and 'To conclude'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally a bit mechanical, and some transitions feel formulaic rather than natural. To move to the next band, the writer should employ a wider variety of cohesive devices more flexibly and ensure that inter-sentence links flow seamlessly without relying on standard formulaic phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, providing sufficient range to communicate the main points about education and practical skills clearly. The writer attempts some less-common vocabulary, such as 'theoretical knowledge', 'foundational knowledge', and 'professional career growth'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and word-choice errors, such as 'oftenly argued' instead of 'often argued', and awkward phrasing like 'for both kind of studies'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but minor lexical slips prevent the vocabulary from reaching a higher level of precision. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to demonstrate a more flexible and precise range of vocabulary, incorporating less common lexical items with accurate collocation and style control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting complex structures such as conditional and relative clauses. There is a control of grammar and punctuation that ensures communication is rarely impeded. However, the text contains several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'science students needs', pluralisation errors like 'these view points', and awkward prepositional or infinitive patterns such as 'knowledge in to real life situations'. Complex sentences are sometimes marred by minor structural flaws. To move to a higher band, the writer must produce a greater proportion of error-free sentences when using complex structures and eliminate basic grammatical slips regarding agreement and verb forms.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.