Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-15
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 5.5)
Nowadays there are diffrent opinion about this topic, I strongly believe that parents should motivate their children to involve in group activity. Although, it is important for children to learn how to occupy themselves on their own but taking part in group event build social bondings.
On the one hand, Children can learn how important it is to take part in group activity as this can encourge children to make friends and most importantly build trust in each other. Organizing group event in free time will help children to speak about their opinion,questions and stories.
On the second hand, In today's world lot of children feel left out and to reduce this parents and teacher should teach children how to stay independent when they are away. For example, parent's can make timetable about household duties like doing their own dishes, Laundry,and many more things. Plus; teacher can arrange a test that required things that only children themselves do, for instance creating drawing or race competition this will encourage young human to tackle a situation on their own.
Lastly, There are many ways we can teach child how to involve in group activities without being shy and also they learn how to handle any difficult situation without their parents or teacher.
In conclusion, I personally believe that taking part in organised event or learn about how to occupy themselevs on their own both things have their own benefits and it just matter of child's mentality and efforts of teacher and parents, By providing leassons for things like how to push yourself in group activities and how to handle bad situation by yourself will help them in future.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses both views regarding group activities versus independent play, and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on group activities mentions making friends and building trust, but does not extend these points deeply with specific explanations. Similarly, the second body paragraph introduces independent tasks like laundry and drawing, but touches upon them briefly. The main points are relevant, but tend to be generalized and under-developed, aligning best with a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay has a coherent overall arrangement and follows a clear paragraph structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. Transition phrases are awkward or non-standard, such as 'On the second hand' instead of 'On the other hand', and 'Plus;' with incorrect punctuation. Paragraphing is present, but the logical progression between ideas within paragraphs can feel disjointed. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the pronoun use in the conclusion. These features place the response firmly at Band 5.5.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is adequate for the task, with attempts to use less common items such as 'independent', 'social bondings', and 'household duties'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'diffrent' (different), 'involve' instead of 'involved', 'encourge' (encourage), and 'event' used when plural 'events' is intended. The collocation 'social bondings' is unnatural. These errors do not completely impede communication, fitting the criteria for a Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response shows a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Although, it is important for children to learn how to occupy themselves on their own but taking part in group event build social bondings' (which also contains a double conjunction error). There are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('event build', 'parent's can'), missing articles ('a test that required things'), and misuse of semicolons. While communication is generally maintained, the frequency of errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band, making a Band 5.0 appropriate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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