Some people think that they can learn better by themselves than with a teacher. Others think that it is always better to have a teacher. Which one do you prefer? Use specific reasons to develop your essay.
Sample Response
Learning is an ongoing activity which starts from our birth and continues till death. Some people argue that learning by own experiences is more efficient and long lasting. However, others state that teachers are the best mentor and their knowledge, experiences, observations and techniques will enable us to learn quickly and effectively. I strongly believe that teachers are the best source of knowledge and their role and efforts are always applaudable and acknowledgeable. There is no doubt that teachers are the trained professionals, who are equipped with latest and modern teaching techniques. They know the art of being delivering difficult concepts in friendly and relaxing ways. As all the students do not have equal intelligence level. Here, teachers play a vital role as they understand the capacity of each student. Teachers have sheer knowledge because of their vast experience and observations. They can also provide real-time knowledge of the things to their students. Furthermore, teachers can provide quick solutions to various problems of students. By this, I mean that student would have effective learning in minimal time span. However, learning by doing is an approach, which has long lasting and undeniable benefits. In facts, this is a time-consuming process as you have to do research and implement by your own but its advantages cannot be ignored. In conclusion, I would like to say that teachers' role is mandatory in learning. There is no alternative to their knowledge and experiences. Under their guidance and supervision, one can learn and perform exceptionally well.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add possessive reference Original: learning by own experiences Suggested revision: learning through their own experiences Why it matters: The phrase needs a possessive determiner and the preposition 'through' is natural for this means of learning.
- 2. Fix noun agreement Original: teachers are the best mentor Suggested revision: teachers are the best mentors Why it matters: The plural subject 'teachers' requires the plural complement 'mentors'.
- 3. Use natural abstractions Original: knowledge, experiences, observations and techniques Suggested revision: knowledge, experience, insight and techniques Why it matters: 'Experience' and 'insight' are more natural uncountable abstractions in this general claim.
- 4. Use idiomatic adjectives Original: applaudable and acknowledgeable Suggested revision: commendable and worthy of recognition Why it matters: The original adjectives are awkward and non-idiomatic in this evaluation of teachers' work.
- 5. Remove generic article Original: the trained professionals Suggested revision: trained professionals Why it matters: The plural noun describes teachers generally, so it should not take the definite article.
- 6. Add article and trim Original: equipped with latest and modern teaching techniques Suggested revision: equipped with the latest teaching techniques Why it matters: The superlative 'latest' needs 'the', and 'modern' unnecessarily repeats its meaning.
- 7. Fix verb structure Original: the art of being delivering Suggested revision: the ability to deliver Why it matters: 'Being delivering' is not a valid verb form in this construction.
- 8. Refine description Original: in friendly and relaxing ways Suggested revision: in an approachable and relaxed way Why it matters: The revision more naturally describes a teacher's manner of explaining concepts.
- 9. Improve collocation Original: sheer knowledge Suggested revision: extensive knowledge Why it matters: 'Extensive knowledge' is the appropriate collocation for a large amount of expertise.
- 10. Use natural pairing Original: vast experience and observations Suggested revision: vast experience and insight Why it matters: 'Insight' pairs naturally with experience when describing professional expertise.
- 11. Clarify vague phrase Original: real-time knowledge of the things Suggested revision: current knowledge of relevant subjects Why it matters: The original phrase is vague and 'real-time knowledge' is not natural in this educational context.
- 12. Use concise possession Original: problems of students Suggested revision: students' problems Why it matters: The possessive form is more concise and natural here.
Suggested Rewrites
- learning by own experiences learning through their own experiences
- teachers are the best mentor teachers are the best mentors
- knowledge, experiences, observations and techniques knowledge, experience, insight and techniques
- applaudable and acknowledgeable commendable and worthy of recognition
- the trained professionals trained professionals
- equipped with latest and modern teaching techniques equipped with the latest teaching techniques
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response states a consistent preference for teacher-led learning and offers several relevant reasons, including professional expertise, adaptation to learners, and efficient problem-solving. Its main limitation is that these ideas remain general and are presented in a single unstructured paragraph, while frequent awkward expressions weaken accuracy. The highest-priority improvement is to organise the reasons into clear paragraphs and develop each with a specific example or fuller explanation.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Response
The response answers the question clearly and provides relevant reasons, but most supporting ideas are only briefly developed.
Add a specific example showing how a teacher improves learning and explain why this outweighs the benefits of independent study.
Coherence and Cohesion
The sequence of ideas is broadly understandable, but the single-paragraph format, a sentence fragment, and mechanical linking weaken progression.
Use separate paragraphs for the position, supporting reasons, counterpoint, and conclusion, with one controlling idea in each.
Lexical Resource
The response has adequate topic vocabulary, but frequent unnatural collocations and word choices limit precision and flexibility.
Use natural combinations such as learn from experience, trained teachers, and individual ability instead of inflated or awkward wording.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Simple and complex forms are attempted, but frequent errors in articles, agreement, sentence structure, and possessives reduce control.
Focus on producing complete clauses and checking articles, singular-plural agreement, and possessive forms during proofreading.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people think that they can learn better by themselves than with a teacher. Others think that it is always better to have a teacher. Which one do you prefer? Use specific reasons to develop your essay.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.