Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-19

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 children should be encouraged to participate in tasks that requires team work in their leisure time, while others believe no outside pressure is required to push children in such activities and let them act according to their will. This essay will discuss both views but I believe participating in group activities help children to develop better communication skills.

Making choices by their own may help the youngsters to be good at some tasks such as painting, singing and few other activities that does not require any support from the peers. Parents should provide such an environment to the juveniles to develop their own skills and to find the activities in which they can achieve higher goals. By occupying themselves by their own, children can utilize their own thinking to solve the problems which is beneficial in decision making in the future as well.

However, participating in group activities has more benefits for the adolescences. Firstly, better communication skills are developed by being working with other children. Secondly, it encourages the youth to work in teams which is helpful later in their lives. Additionally, they can learn multiple skills from their peers and will have better understanding of the group which can arouse the quality to lead the certain group. For instance, working in a large company requires to to be co-operative and have good communication skills, these can only be attained by being around the others in the young age.

To conclude, although choosing to spend their free time is beneficial in decision making, I personally believe in group activities, children can learn co-operation, communication skills, team work which will have high impact in their professional lives as well.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. The ideas are relevant, such as the benefits of independent play for decision-making and the social advantages of group activities. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the point about 'painting and singing' is mentioned but not fully explored in terms of how it specifically fosters independence. The essay covers all parts of the prompt, but the supporting arguments could be more thoroughly extended to reach a higher band. The position is consistent throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs. There is a progression of ideas from the introduction to the body paragraphs and the conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'However', 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'To conclude', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are a bit mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as the slightly awkward phrasing 'By occupying themselves by their own'. Overall, the paragraphing is sufficient and the logical flow is maintained throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task. You use some topic-specific terms like 'leisure time', 'co-operative', and 'professional lives'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'arouse the quality to lead' (which is unnatural) and 'the adolescences' (should be 'adolescents'). The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but it lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. Attempting to use more sophisticated collocations would improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('tasks that requires', 'activities that does not') and prepositional errors ('by their own' instead of 'on their own'). There is also a minor punctuation/repetition error ('requires to to be'). While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Increasing the variety of error-free complex structures would be beneficial.

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