Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-22

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)

Some people assert that parents should encourage their children to participate in planned group activities, whereas others argue that children should learn how to use their free time. I believe that parents can encourage their children to take part in group activities. However, children should have the liberty to choose what they want to do in their leisure time.

On the one hand, children who spend most of their time at team based activities such as sports and clubs learn many transferrable skills like sportsmanship, conflict management, and improved communication because they interact with people of similar age. For example, children who regularly participate in group activities learn how to cooperates with others, teamwork, follow rules, and how to deal with both success and failure. Moreover, such activities can prevent children from spending excessive amount of time on electronic devices.

On the other hand, when parents make decision for children they do not learn how to do it themselves, and in the long-term it may affects their decision making skills. In addition, regular participation in team sports can make children dependent on others for entertainment. For example, children should have freedom to choose how they want to spend their free time, maybe someone is interested in reading, drawing, or dancing. Thus, if they can plan their leisure time according to their needs, there are higher chances for them to make it their profession.

In conclusion, although team-based activities are beneficial for learning useful skills and interact with new people, they should never be imposed on children. Children must have some freedom to choose from a variety of tasks. Hence, a balanced approach is most suitable solution.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the benefits of organised activities and the importance of independent leisure time. You clearly state your position in the introduction and maintain it throughout the essay. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed, such as the mention of 'transferrable skills' like conflict management and the counter-argument regarding decision-making autonomy. To reach a higher band, ensure that your examples are slightly more specific; for instance, instead of just listing 'reading, drawing, or dancing', you could briefly explain how these specific pursuits foster individual creativity or personal growth. Overall, the response is balanced and directly answers the task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organised with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph has a central theme, and you use transition signals such as 'On the one hand', 'Moreover', and 'In conclusion' effectively to guide the reader. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two viewpoints. While the flow is generally smooth, some cohesive devices are slightly repetitive or mechanical. For example, the transition between the second and third paragraphs could be more sophisticated. However, the overall structure is coherent, and the relationship between ideas is easy to follow throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with some precision. Phrases like 'transferrable skills', 'imposed on children', and 'balanced approach' are used correctly. There are some minor errors in word choice, such as 'cooperates' (should be 'cooperate') and 'affects' (should be 'affect'). While you use some less common items, the vocabulary is generally functional rather than highly sophisticated. To improve, try to incorporate more precise collocations and avoid minor grammatical slips in word forms, which will help demonstrate a more flexible control of language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. You successfully employ complex sentences, such as 'Although team-based activities are beneficial... they should never be imposed'. However, there are several grammatical errors that persist, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('it may affects') and missing articles or incorrect verb forms ('learn how to cooperates'). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Increasing the variety of complex structures and ensuring consistent accuracy in verb tense and agreement will help elevate your score in this criterion.

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.