Formal examinations are the only effective way to assess a student's performance. Continual assessment such as course work and projects is not a satisfactory way to do this. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Sample Response
Formal examinations have been used as a means ofas means of assessing students' understandingassessing students on their understanding of various subjects since time immemorial. Whether it is used in isolationConsidering it in isolation or in combination with other forms of continual assessmentother continual assessment such as course work or projects, it remains a matter of debate as to the best methoda subject of controversy as to the best method of assessment. In my opinion, a combination of the two may be a better way of assessing students. First and foremost, the aim of assessmentthe aim of the assessment is to measure how well a student understandsquantify how much the student understands the entire subjectthe taught subject in its totality. An examination is usually administered inon a single sitting. The outcome depends on various factors such as whether the examination is conducted in a suitable examination environmenta conducive atmosphere, whether the student is healthy atduring the time of the examination and also the student’s mood. These are all non-academic factors that may affect the result of the examination. Secondly, a single examination may not cover the full scope of the subjectcover the scope of the subject completely especially in broad subjects such as medicine and law. Continual assessments may then be usefulcome in handy. In addition, formal examinations are not flexible enough to assess other qualities possessed by a student such as confidence and a student's abilitythe ability of a student to present a topic publiclypresent a topic to the public. These can only be assesseddone through other assessments such as presentations and other coursework and projectsother course works and projects. In conclusion, formal examinations are a good means of assessment but should not be used in isolation due to some of theirits shortcomings such as theirits inability to cover a broad range of topicscover wide topics, being affected by other none academic factors such as a student’s mood or health. Therefore, continual assessments such as course work and projects should also be considered.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The essay clearly rejects using examinations alone and develops several relevant reasons for combining them with continuous assessment, including temporary personal factors, limited syllabus coverage, and skills that written tests cannot measure. Its strongest feature is the practical range of supporting points. The main limitation is one-paragraph organisation and limited explanation of what examinations assess well; prioritise balancing the comparison in separate, focused body paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
A clear qualified disagreement is maintained and supported with several developed limitations of examinations and benefits of continuous assessment.
Explain what formal examinations assess effectively before showing why combining methods produces a more complete evaluation of performance.
Coherence and Cohesion
The points follow a logical sequence, but the entire essay is presented as one paragraph and the long conclusion repeats earlier reasoning.
Use separate body paragraphs for situational limitations, syllabus coverage, and practical skills, then condense the conclusion.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is sufficiently varied for education and assessment, though several expressions are awkward, imprecise, or unnecessarily formal.
Use natural terms such as ‘conducted in one sitting’, ‘cover the full syllabus’, ‘non-academic factors’, and ‘coursework’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of sentence forms communicates the argument clearly, but errors recur in agreement, reference, parallelism, and noun forms.
Check singular-plural references and construct lists in parallel form, especially when summarising multiple shortcomings in the conclusion.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Formal examinations are the only effective way to assess a student's performance. Continual assessment such as course work and projects is not a satisfactory way to do this. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.