Some high schools require all students to wear school uniforms. Other high schools permit students to decide what to wear to school. Which of these two school policies do you think is better? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.
Sample Response
I think that the issue of whetherthe issue whether all students are required to wear school uniformsuniform is a matter open for debatethe one that is open for debate. Some people think that all students must wear the school uniform. However, others think that students should decide what to wear to school themselves or by their parents. Personally, I believe that students should wear what they like. For the reasons outlinedFor several reasons, which I will mention belowbellow, I think that students should not be required to wear school uniformsschool uniforms should not be required to wear at high school level.
First of all, if students do not have school uniforms, they canif students do not have school uniforms they can wear what they likewear what they like to wear. Personally, I like to wear clothes which are comfortable. Also, I am a female studentI am a female and I like to wear jeans and shorts, and as far as I know, girlsas far as I know girls must wear skirts as part of their school uniform. I think many female students will agree with me that jeans are much more comfortable than skirts.
SecondlySecond of all, I believe that school uniforms should not cause discomfortschool uniforms must not cause any discomfort. For example, some international students will find it unacceptable to wear some parts of the uniformsome of the uniform's parts. I am from Russia and when I was a student of the elementary school I was required to wear the school uniform that included a dark blue skirt and a white or light blue shirt. I did not like it very much because I did not like the fact that all students were dressed in the same colour. We dressed the same way and we were permitted to wear any adornments. Personally, I did not like the fact that girls always had to wear skirts and they were not comfortableit was not convenient, especially in cold weather.
In short, I think that students should wear what they want to schoolwear to school what they want. HoweverOtherwise, if a high school requires students to wear school uniforms, I think that uniforms must be comfortable for all students.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The essay maintains a clear preference for allowing students to choose their clothes and supports it with detailed personal examples about comfort, skirts, and cold weather. Its main limitation is development: both body paragraphs largely repeat the same comfort argument, while wider reasons such as self-expression, culture, cost, or school identity are not weighed. Prioritise two distinct reasons and compare them directly with the benefits of uniforms.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The position is clear and supported with a relevant personal example, but the reasons are repetitive and the alternative policy's possible benefits are not meaningfully weighed.
Develop comfort and personal or cultural expression as separate reasons, then explain why they outweigh equality or school-identity benefits.
Coherence and Cohesion
The introduction, two body paragraphs, and conclusion provide clear progression, though repeated statements about comfort and mechanical sequencing reduce cohesion.
Give each body paragraph a distinct topic sentence and remove repeated claims about liking jeans and disliking skirts.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is adequate for clothes and school policy, but repetition, spelling errors, and several awkward phrases restrict flexibility.
Use precise terms such as 'dress code,' 'personal choice,' 'self-expression,' 'restrictive,' and 'weather-appropriate clothing.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of sentence forms communicates the opinion clearly, though errors in articles, passive forms, relative clauses, and coordination recur.
Correct forms such as 'uniforms should not be required,' 'when I was in elementary school,' and clearly state whether adornments were permitted.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some high schools require all students to wear school uniforms. Other high schools permit students to decide what to wear to school. Which of these two school policies do you think is better? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.