Some people prefer to plan activities for their free time very carefully. Others choose not to make any plans at all for their free time. Compare the benefits of planning free-time activities with the benefits of not making plans. Which do you prefer - planning or not planning for your leisure time? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your choice.
Sample Response
It is a fact that every individual spends his/her free time differently, as a group of people choose to spend their leisure time without any plan at all, while others prefer to spend it with an agenda and a schedulewith agenda and schedule. Both planned and unplanned leisure activitiesPlanned or unplanned leisure activities have their own positive sides but I prefer to have planned free-time activitiesa planned free time activity and the following essay will discuss both approacheswill discuss them in detail.
To begin with, some people prefer to spend their leisure timeactivities freely, without any schedules. They believe that free time activities should be totally different from their daily activities, because their days are full ofwhereas they are full of routine activities, tight deadlines and busy schedules. They believe that leisure time should be spent doing anything they like doing at that timedoing that time, and they cancould do it as long as they like. For example, some people prefer sunbathingsunbath activity at the beach during holidaysduring holiday periods, and they prefer to do it without any time limit. They will end sunbathingtheir sunbathing activities after they are satisfied.
For a number of reasons, the other group of people believesanother group of people believe that free time activities would be more effective and efficient if they plan them. Firstly, by doing some preparation, they already have anthe agenda for the day on what to do, what to see and how they will travelhow will they travel to those places; thereforeplaces, therefore they could visit more attractive and unique places during their holiday time. Secondly, a planned holiday would definitely save more moneybudgets. People who planplanned their holiday time could book airline tickets and accommodationaccommodations in advancefrom an earlier period. As a result, they get cheaper prices for aeroplane tickets and the hotel's room rate as well.
In conclusion, it is a fact that some people prefer to plan their holiday or leisure time, while others choose not to plan it. Each side has its own advantages, but I personally choose to have a planned holiday time, as I could see more attractive places during that time and save more money.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response addresses both approaches, maintains a clear preference, and organises its supporting reasons in an easy-to-follow structure. Its main limitation is recurring imprecision in collocation and grammar, which makes otherwise relevant points sound awkward and occasionally weakens cohesion. The highest-priority improvement is to use more natural noun phrases and sentence patterns while developing each benefit with a more specific, fully explained example.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both benefits are discussed, the preference is consistent, and the main reasons receive relevant support.
Develop the contrast beyond holiday planning and explain each example more specifically to deepen the argument.
Coherence and Cohesion
Clear paragraphing and a logical sequence make the comparison easy to follow despite some mechanical linking.
Use referencing and conjunctions more accurately so relationships between clauses flow naturally rather than relying on formulaic transitions.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary covers the topic adequately, but recurring awkward collocations reduce precision and naturalness.
Replace phrases such as saving budgets and spending activities with accurate, conventional word combinations.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of sentence forms communicates the message clearly, though article, tense, agreement, and clause errors recur.
Prioritise accurate complex sentences by checking article use, verb forms, and question-word clause order.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people prefer to plan activities for their free time very carefully. Others choose not to make any plans at all for their free time. Compare the benefits of planning free-time activities with the benefits of not making plans. Which do you prefer - planning or not planning for your leisure time? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your choice.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.