Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-01

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)

This is debatable question whether children should be encouraged by their parents to take participation in different games in their free time or they should learn how to keep busy by themselves. From my experience, parents should be involved to advice their children when they have nothing to do otherwise they would have waste their time by doing worthless activities. Parents always wants best in their kids and it's worthy to allow them to motivate children in such decision. This essay will discuss both perspectives in detail.

There are several reasons why children should be guided by their parents to take part in various group chats. The first and foremost reason is that group activities help child to develop their communication and problem solving skills. Additionally, engaging in group activities allows them to socialise with new people and make them friends. This approach eliminate the feeling of isolation and create the sense of belongingness in long term.

On the other side, some people say that children should be left alone so they can learn by themselves. They also say that parents cannot advice them throughout their life so it is better to allow them deal with different situations from an early age. However, I believe that they need support at an early age. They do not have knowledge and understanding of consequences of different actitons. Therefore, guidence is required to give them direction.

To sum up, guiding them to participate in activities may foster their creativity and they would cope op with real world quickly. Leaving them alone may lead to the isolation, whereas suggesting them to be part of group may help them learn various life skills.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views on how children should spend their free time and providing a clear personal opinion. However, some ideas remain under-developed or general, which prevents a higher score. For instance, the discussion on group activities mentions developing communication and problem-solving skills, but these points are stated rather than fully extended with specific examples or explanations. Similarly, the counter-argument regarding children learning to occupy themselves on their own is introduced briefly in the third paragraph but lacks deeper elaboration. The position is maintained throughout the essay and leads to a logical conclusion, but adding more depth and specific reasoning to both perspectives would strengthen this aspect of the writing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph-by-paragraph structure that follows a standard discursive format. Introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding summary are all clearly demarcated. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'The first and foremost reason', 'Additionally', and 'On the other side', though some referencing and transitional mechanics feel slightly repetitive or mechanical. For example, the transition between sentences in the first paragraph is somewhat abrupt, and the progression within the second body paragraph could be smoother. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different viewpoints, but refining the flow between sentences would enhance the overall cohesion of the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the writer's ideas. The student attempts some less common vocabulary items, such as 'socialise', 'isolation', and 'belongingness', which demonstrates an effort to expand lexical range. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and phrasing throughout the response. Examples include writing 'take participation' instead of 'take part', 'advice' instead of 'advise' as a verb, and 'actitons' containing a spelling error. Furthermore, phrases like 'worthless activities' and 'cope op' reveal minor slips in word formation and collocation. These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score because of the lack of precision and control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting various structures like conditional or relative clauses. There are, however, some recurring errors in grammar and punctuation. Examples of structural and agreement errors include 'This is debatable question', 'parents always wants best in their kids', 'help child to develop', and 'allow them deal with different situations'. There are also minor prepositions and article issues, such as 'in long term'. Despite these frequent minor inaccuracies, the meaning remains clear and the errors rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the arguments easily. A greater control over complex sentence patterns and grammatical agreement would elevate the accuracy of the text.

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