Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-11
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
The growth of online shopping will one day lead to all shops in towns and cities closing.
Do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.0)
Educational institutions should carefully design their syllabus to be taught to children. Some individuals think that schools should emphasise teaching practical skills like money budgeting and cooking, whereas others argue that traditional academic subjects should be the main priority in curriculums. I strongly agree that theoretical knowledge in the form of academics is mandatory during school education.
The primary reason for incorporating academic subjects during schooling is that it lays the foundation for important subjects like Mathematics and Science. Without the core knowledge of these subjects, one cannot expect advancement in technology in contemporary societies. Theoretical knowledge is compulsory for applying it in hospitals and big corporations. For example, A doctor can provide his services efficiently only if he has deep academic knowledge of medical science. As a result, humans can become experts only if they have ample academic knowledge to be applied on practical basis.
On the other hand, practical skills like cooking and financial budgeting can be learned at home. Children do not spend their whole day at school. They can learn these skills from their elder siblings or parents. In addition to this, these skills can be learned in after-school programs or during the summer season when their is no school. Moreover, no professional degree to required to learn these daily life skills, but can be grasped through caregivers' guidance. For instance, grandparents can spend quality time with their grandchildren and can teach them how to manage their pocket money effectively. Therefore, schools are not the primary requisite to learn practical skills.
To encapsulate, schools should prefer academic studies more than practical skills to be used on a daily basis. Specific field expertise can only be achieved through subject knowledge, and secondly, other skills can be learned through family at home.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 1.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 1.0
The response is completely off-topic. The prompt asks for an opinion on whether online shopping will lead to the closure of all physical shops. However, the student has written an essay about whether schools should prioritize academic subjects or practical skills. Because the response does not address the task prompt at all, it fails to meet the requirements of the task. In an official IELTS examination, this would result in a very low score for Task Achievement as the candidate has failed to respond to the specific question posed.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
Despite being off-topic, the essay itself is structured logically. It uses clear paragraphing, with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'The primary reason', 'On the other hand', 'In addition to this', and 'To encapsulate' are used effectively to guide the reader through the argument. The progression of ideas within the paragraphs is coherent, even though the content is irrelevant to the prompt provided.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The vocabulary is generally appropriate for an academic essay. The student uses terms like 'incorporating', 'contemporary societies', 'requisite', and 'effectively'. There is an adequate range of vocabulary to express ideas clearly. While there are no highly sophisticated or uncommon lexical items, the word choice is accurate and sufficient for the level of the writing produced.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'when their is no school' (should be 'there') and 'no professional degree to required' (should be 'is required'). However, these errors do not impede communication. The control of grammar is generally good, and the punctuation is used correctly throughout the text.
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.