Some people believe that children leisure activities must be educational, otherwise they are a complete waste of time. Do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
Today, education has become a priority for many parents seeking to improve their future prospectssecure a good future for their children in this rapidly changing world. They believe that if their children apply themselves and work hard at school, then they will increase their opportunities to enter higher educationopportunities for going to higher education and eventually getting a good job. Of course they are right, and as access to the best education and employment opportunitiesbest education and best jobs is becoming more competitive, it is clearthen it is true that children have to make the best of their study time when they are young.
However, the parents who do not allow their children sufficient free time for leisure activities outside school hours arehours, are misguided. Such activities are far from being a waste of time for children simplyfor the children simply because they are not academic. It is important to remember that children need to develop skills other than intellectual abilitiesones, and the best way to do this is through activities such as playing sports and games with other childrensports, games and playing with other kids. If they cannot play make-believe games, how can they develop their imagination? How can they developlearn physical co-ordination or learn important social lessons about winning and losing if they do not participate in any sportspractise any sports? Many children form strong, personal relationships with the friends they play with, and without the opportunity to do this, they could grow up emotionally immature or underdevelopedunformed.
Finally, I think it is also important to remember that children need to relax as well as work. If everything they do must have educational relevancesome educational or academic relevance, then they will soon get tired of studying altogether, which is the last thing parents would want.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response presents a clear, persuasive disagreement and develops its case through relevant explanations of the social, imaginative, physical, and emotional benefits of leisure. Its main limitation is that the opening spends substantial space conceding the value of academic study before stating the opposing case. Prioritise a direct position earlier and use the saved space for one more concrete illustration of how unstructured leisure supports development.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The position is clear and the argument is fully developed through relevant reasons covering several benefits of non-academic leisure.
State the disagreement explicitly in the introduction and add a concrete real-world illustration to sharpen the support.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response progresses naturally from academic pressures to developmental benefits and relaxation, with cohesive links used unobtrusively.
Condense the opening paragraph so the central argument begins sooner and the body carries more of the discussion.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and precise, with effective expressions for intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development.
Refine occasional slightly imprecise choices such as emotionally unformed to make the phrasing consistently natural.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is handled accurately, and errors are rare and do not impede meaning.
Polish minor punctuation choices, particularly unnecessary commas separating a subject from its verb.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people believe that children leisure activities must be educational, otherwise they are a complete waste of time. Do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.