Some people think that it is better to educate boys and girls in separate schools. Others, however, believe that boys and girls benefit more from attending mixed schools. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Sample Response
It is often argued that school children should go to single sex schools, while othersother would say that males and females get the most out of integrated schools. This essay will argue that despite there being some social benefits to females and males going to the same school, the academic advantages of educating them separately make separate schooling more worthwhilemake it more worthwhile. Many feel that educating both sexes togethermixing both sexes at school helps to develop social skills and makes people less awkward around the opposite sex later in life. This is especially true for males, who often find it difficult to approach and interact socially with womentalk to women socially if they don’t first become accustomed to this interactionget used to it first in the classroom. For example, the Sunday Times recently reported that men who did not have regular social contact with girls when they were growing up are 68% more likely to suffer from anxiety when in the company of females. Despite this social benefitDespite the argument above, it is difficult to argue with the fact that single-sex schools consistently top examination league tables. In nearly every area of the United Kingdom, the top schools admit only boys or only girlsonly allow boys or girls to attend and this may lead to higher grades because students can focus exclusively on their studies. Personally, I went to a school for both boys and girls and found that I had to deal with many more distractions than did friendscompared to friends who attended the local boys-only college. In conclusion, educating boys and girls togetherintegrating the sexes can prevent social awkwardness later in life and make pupils more sociable in the company of other genders, but a school’s primary purpose is to educate and single-sex schoolsthose with just one sex or the other outperform mixed schoolsthose that allow both.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response is strongest in its direct, balanced treatment of both views and its consistently clear preference for single-sex education, supported by relevant explanations and examples. The principal limitation is presentation as one continuous block, which slightly obscures the otherwise strong progression of ideas. The highest-priority improvement is to preserve this focused argument while dividing it into clearly purposeful paragraphs and refining the few minor grammatical slips.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both views are addressed directly, the writer’s opinion is clear throughout, and each side is developed with relevant explanation and support.
Deepen the comparison slightly by explaining more explicitly why the academic advantage ultimately outweighs the acknowledged social benefit.
Coherence and Cohesion
The argument progresses logically with well-managed referencing and cohesive links, although the lack of visible paragraph breaks weakens structural clarity.
Use distinct introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs so that each stage of the discussion is immediately apparent to the reader.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is wide, precise, and natural, with effective topic-specific choices and only occasional repetition.
Refine repeated references to schools and the sexes with carefully chosen substitutes while maintaining the current precision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is used accurately and flexibly, with only rare minor errors that do not impede communication.
Proofread for isolated agreement slips, particularly constructions such as “other would say,” to make accuracy consistently polished.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people think that it is better to educate boys and girls in separate schools. Others, however, believe that boys and girls benefit more from attending mixed schools. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.