Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-30

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)

While many believe that children should be motivated by their parents to participate in group activities to spend leisure time effectively, others argue that children should learn on their own to keep themselves busy. Although both groups have their own reasons to support their views, I believe that parental teaching has a significant positive impact.

One main reason is that parents can practically teach children. This is because parents can take them to participate in various group activities and may be present with them the whole time. Moreover, they may also identify their mistakes promptly, which may not be possible if children do it on their own. For instance, during a soccer match, a father may tell his child to work on mistakes to improve concentration and coordinate with team members to win the match. Consequently, this approach may improve children's cooperative skills. Therefore, parents should motivate their children to spend time effectively through group participation.

The main reason is that children may develop more creative skills if they utilize their time without any instruction. To illustrate, children like to paint in their leisure time by using vibrant colors to make their paintings realistic. They do this activity by imagining those pictures in their own mind because they do not feel interrupted by anyone. However, they may not be able to produce such artistic drawings when others guide them. That is why children should not be interrupted by their parents, since performing tasks alone may increase their cognitive skills.

In conclusion, admittedly, children can be more creative when they spend their time without facing any interruption. However, I believe that the skill of cooperating with others may only be taught by parents by engaging children in group activities because parents may teach them more precisely.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on children's leisure time—group activities versus independent play—and provides a clear personal opinion throughout the essay. The student presents relevant ideas, such as parents teaching cooperative skills and independent play fostering creativity. However, some arguments feel slightly repetitive, particularly the reliance on general explanations rather than fully extending ideas with distinct examples. For instance, the soccer example supports the first view well, but the creativity paragraph generalizes painting without deeply exploring the long-term impact. This places the response comfortably at Band 6.5 to 7.0 for addressing all task requirements with a clear position and supported ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear logical organisation with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing each viewpoint, and a summarizing conclusion. Cohesive devices are used adequately to connect ideas, such as 'One main reason is,' 'Moreover,' 'For instance,' and 'Consequently.' However, the transitional phrases between paragraphs can sometimes feel a bit mechanical or repetitive, such as starting consecutive paragraphs with 'One main reason is.' Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct arguments. Overall, the progression of ideas is fairly easy to follow, supporting a solid Band 7.0 performance for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating topic-related terms such as 'participate,' 'cooperative skills,' 'creative skills,' 'cognitive skills,' and 'independent play.' There are attempts to use less common vocabulary like 'vibrant colors' and 'promptly.' However, word choices occasionally lean towards repetitive phrasing, such as repeatedly using 'keep themselves busy' or 'spend leisure time effectively.' Minor inaccuracies in word choice or collocation appear occasionally, but they do not impede communication. This aligns well with the descriptors for Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses introduced by 'while,' 'although,' and 'because.' There is good control over basic punctuation and sentence structures. However, there are some minor grammatical inaccuracies and repetitive syntactic patterns, such as the frequent use of modal verbs like 'may' and 'can' in conditional or hypothetical contexts. Despite these recurring structures, the majority of sentences are clear, and errors do not impede communication. This warrants a Band 6.5 for grammatical range and accuracy.

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