Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-28

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 7.0)

It is often debated that whether parents should encourage children to spend their leisure time participating in team activities or teach children to entertain themselves. While both the thoughts are beneficial for a child's growth a greater extent, I believe a balance of both is required.

First of all, promoting group play activities at a young age facilitates essential social skills like communication, listening, sharing, taking turns, respect, and managing emotions. In a team activity, kids get the opportunity to learn these skills by watching and learning from other children. It helps in social, cognitive, and holistic development. For example- children learn to take turns, follow directions, interact, and understand emotions while playing hide and seek. Therefore, group play has substantial advantages.

Secondly, promoting independent playtime has numerous benefits. It encourages creativity, imagination, and focus retention. Young children tend to develop their ideas when given the freedom to spend time on their own with the toys available. To elucidate, children often develop their imaginative characters and stories when allowed to play independently, fostering creativity and attention.

From my perspective, guardians should encourage group play and independent play time equally as both contribute to a child's development. Crucial life skills like team player, conflict resolution, managing emotions, creativity, imagination, and attention are important for holistic development and emphasizing only few over the other is not advisable.

In conclusion, parents should divide free time equally among team play and independent activities to ensure holistic development of a child. Promoting only one may not lead to overall growth.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both viewpoints and providing a clear personal opinion. The ideas are relevant and logically developed, such as the benefits of social skills in group activities and the development of creativity through independent play. However, the development is somewhat brief; while the points are clear, they could be extended with more specific real-world examples or deeper analysis to reach a higher band. The position is consistent throughout the essay, and the conclusion effectively summarizes the main argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is well-organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central topic, and the progression of ideas is logical. Cohesive devices such as 'First of all,' 'Secondly,' and 'In conclusion' are used effectively to guide the reader. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat standard and occasionally repetitive. To improve, you could incorporate a wider variety of linking words and ensure that referencing between sentences is more fluid to achieve a more sophisticated flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally appropriate and sufficient for the task. You use some good collocations like 'holistic development,' 'facilitates essential social skills,' and 'focus retention.' There are, however, some minor inaccuracies and slightly repetitive phrasing, such as 'promoting' used twice in close proximity. The range is adequate to convey meaning clearly, but to reach a higher band, you should aim for more precise and less common lexical items, as well as more varied ways of expressing the same concepts.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most sentences are clear and easy to follow. There are some minor grammatical errors, such as 'debated that whether' in the opening sentence and 'emphasizing only few over the other' which lacks an article. Additionally, 'team player' is used as a noun phrase for a skill, which is slightly awkward. While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more consistent control over complex structures to reach the 7.0 or 8.0 level.

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

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