Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-18

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people say that parents should encourage their children to take part in organised group activities in their free time. Others say that it is important for children to learn how to occupy themselves on their own.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 6.5)

It is often argued by some individuals that parents should encourage their children to take part in team activities during their leisure time; however, others think that it is crucial for children to learn how to spend their free time by themselves.

In this essay, I will discuss both perspectives in the following paragraphs and explain why I support the former viewpoint.

One the one hand, One of the main reasons why children should be encouraged by their parents to do group activities. Firstly, parents are the first teachers in every child's life. They should teach their children to participate in team activities such as sports, debates and many more, which may help them to improve their interpersonal skills, like patience and communication. For example, in India, most of the children play different kinds of games with their siblings and share toys with each other, which is not only helps them to learn the value of sharing but also increases patience among children at an early age. Another reason is that, with the help of group activities, children can learn numerous things and perform some physical activities, which may help them to stay away from obesity. Therefore, children can spend their free time in a meaningful way.

On the other hand, there are also many advantages of spending time by themselves. Firstly, children can learn how to spend time alone, which may make them stronger for the future, as they would spend more time by themselves in the future. If they already spend time by themselves at an early age, they will not face the feeling of isolation. For instance, many international students suffer from stress because they do not know how to spend free time alone. Moreover, in their free time, children can read books, draw and build things independently, which helps them to become independent in their lives. Consequently, children can take decision by themselves.

In conclusion, although there are many benefits of spending free time alone, from my perspective, children should spend leisure time for doing group activities, as children can improve their interpersonal skills.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. The ideas are relevant, such as the benefits of interpersonal skills for group activities and the development of independence for solitary activities. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat uneven. For instance, the argument regarding obesity is a bit brief and could have been expanded further. The conclusion clearly states your position, but the supporting arguments in the body paragraphs could benefit from more nuanced analysis to reach a higher band. Overall, the task is fully addressed with a consistent position maintained throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with clear paragraphing. You use a range of cohesive devices such as 'on the one hand', 'on the other hand', 'consequently', and 'moreover'. However, there are some instances where the flow is slightly mechanical or awkward. For example, the opening sentence of the first body paragraph is a sentence fragment ('One of the main reasons why children should be encouraged by their parents to do group activities.') which disrupts the logical progression. Improving the transition between sentences and ensuring all sentences are complete would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'interpersonal skills', 'isolation', and 'independently'. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'take decision' instead of 'make decisions' and 'spend leisure time for doing' instead of 'spend leisure time doing'. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, it lacks the sophistication and precision required for higher bands. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and a wider variety of topic-specific vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While many sentences are clear, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. For example, 'which is not only helps them' contains an unnecessary 'is', and 'children can take decision' lacks an article. There are also issues with punctuation and sentence fragments, such as the aforementioned fragment in the first body paragraph. These errors do not generally impede communication, but they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and article usage will help improve your accuracy.

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

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