Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-25

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 6.0)

Few people believe that parents should encourage their children to involve themselves in group activities in their free time. whereas others say that it is vital for children to do activities on their own. I believe there should be balance of both. I will discuss both the view in the following paragraphs before stating my opinion.

On one hand, Motivating a child to involve in group tasks has numerous advantages. First, it will give them the opportunity to interact with different people which will enhance their communication skills. other benefit is that it enables a child to learn different way to thinking. This will provide them with different qualities like being patients, respecting other prospective and allowing others to speak. However, it also has certain drawbacks. The major disadvantage is that it will limit the thinking capabilities. For example, in group activities many people tend to rely on some individuals to do all the work rather than participating themselves.

On the other hand, working individually allows children to learn more by doing critical thinking. This not only helps they to think clearly but also aids them to acquire the decision making skills. For Instance, if you are performing an activity alone you will explore more ways and choose the best possible conclusion, whereas in group you will tend to rely on what majority believes to be true. Additionally, both the ability drawing clear conclusion and generate better idea play a vital role in recent times.

In my opinion, a balance should be maintained. working in group allow a child to improve on communication skills but restrict the learning capabilities. whereas doing task individually help them to overcome the drawbacks of working in group.

To conclude, Communication and critical think both play a crucial role in today's world and hence children should be encourage to participate in both types of tasks.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention benefits like communication skills and critical thinking, the explanations are brief and could be further extended with more specific examples or deeper analysis. For instance, the point about group activities limiting thinking is an interesting perspective, but it is not fully explored. To reach a higher band, ensure that each main idea is supported by a concrete example or a more detailed explanation of the 'why' and 'how'. The position is consistent throughout the essay, which is a strength.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. You use some cohesive devices such as 'On one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'To conclude' to guide the reader. However, some transitions are mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'other benefit is that...' (missing an article) and the repetitive use of 'whereas'. The referencing is generally clear, but the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that the relationship between ideas is more explicitly stated.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your meaning clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'critical thinking', 'decision making skills', and 'communication skills'. However, there are several instances of word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'different way to thinking' (should be 'ways of thinking') and 'respecting other prospective' (should be 'perspectives'). The range of vocabulary is somewhat limited, and there is a tendency to repeat basic words. To improve, focus on learning more precise collocations and ensuring the correct form of words is used in context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('a balance', 'the view'), subject-verb agreement ('children should be encourage'), and pronoun usage ('helps they to think'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some missing commas and capitalization errors. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your main points, they are frequent enough to impact the overall fluency of the text. Focusing on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy will help improve your score.

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.