Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-21

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)

Few people stated that schools and unversities often spend too much time teaching facts, while practical skills receive less attention. I agree with this view and in the following paragraphs i will explain it in detail.

First and foremost, many education institutions are heavily focusing on textbook rather than working on a practical knowledge. Students often study a large amount of theoretical knowledge in order to achieve good grades. However, they may not get enough opportunities to apply what they have learned in real situations. For example, a student studying computer science may learn programming concepts from books but still struggle to develop a complete software application. Therefore, practical projects and hands-on activities should be included more frequently in education.

Secondly, practical knowledge plays a crucial role for their future career. In a workplace the new employees are expected to have a practical skills that are prerequisite for fulfilling the duties. These skills are difficult to develop by simply reading textbooks. For instance, students can improve their communication and teamwork abilities by participating in group projects and presentations. As a result, they may feel more confident when they enter the workplace.

To conclude,I agree that too much time is currently spent on learning facts in many educational institutions. Although theoretical knowledge is essential, schools and universities should give students more opportunities to develop practical skills because these abilities are important for their future careers and daily lives.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction—“I agree with this view”—and remains consistent in the conclusion. You address both the imbalance between factual learning and practical skills and the value of practical abilities, supporting these points with relevant examples about software development, teamwork and presentations. This gives the response a solid, relevant foundation. However, the first body paragraph mainly explains that students have too few chances to apply theory, while the second focuses on workplace benefits; the discussion could develop the broader consequences of prioritising facts more fully. The response is also 13 words below the required minimum, so it needs a little more explanation or a further relevant example to meet the task requirements and extend its ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, two focused body paragraphs and a conclusion. The progression from limited hands-on learning to the career value of practical skills is logical, and signposts such as “First and foremost,” “Secondly” and “To conclude” make the organisation easy to follow. The examples are placed in the relevant paragraphs and help connect claims to support. To make the flow more flexible, rely less on formulaic paragraph openers and use links that show the relationship between ideas, such as explaining how project work both applies theory and builds workplace readiness. Also check small presentation details: there should be a space after the comma in “To conclude, I agree,” and consistent capitalisation at sentence beginnings.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “theoretical knowledge,” “hands-on activities,” “prerequisite” and “workplace.” These choices communicate the main ideas clearly, and the examples show you can discuss education and employment in relevant terms. Some word choices and collocations are less natural or precise, however: “focusing on textbook” needs a more suitable expression, “practical knowledge” is repeated where “practical skills” would be clearer, and “a practical skills” has an inaccurate form. There is also a spelling error in “unversities.” Aim to use topic vocabulary accurately and vary repeated phrases, rather than adding more complex words at the expense of natural phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a contrast with “However” and a reason clause in “because these abilities are important for their future careers and daily lives.” Most sentences are understandable, and errors rarely obscure your meaning. Some grammatical inaccuracies remain: “a practical skills” has incorrect article and plural agreement, while “In a workplace the new employees are expected to have…” would benefit from more accurate article use and sentence punctuation. Capitalise “I” in the introduction, and add the missing space after the comma in “To conclude, I agree.” To strengthen control, proofread articles, singular and plural forms, and punctuation while continuing to use varied sentence structures.

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