Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Grades (marks) encourage students to learn. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.
Sample Response
From my everyday experience and observation, I maintain thatI can stand that grades are very good indicators of knowledge. For several reasons that I will mention belowbellow, I believe that grades encourage students to learn. First of all, grades reflectshow students' knowledge. If a person gets a high grade on an exam it means that they understandhe understands that subject very well. Otherwise, if a student gets a low grade on an exam it means that they do not understandhe does not understand it completely. Personally, when I get a lower grade on an exam thanthen I expected, I knowexpected I know that I could be better prepared. So, next time I will spend more time and effortefforts to addressfix my lack of knowledge and do my best on the exam. In this case, low grades encourage me to learn more. I try to analyse my mistakes and avoid them next time. Also, I try to arrange my time more effectively. I know exactly that I can do better than that, so I focus all my energycollect all my strength and focus on the upcomingincoming exam. It is a new goal or challengeobstacle that one should overcome in order to continue theirhis path. When finally I get a higher grade on an exam I feel satisfaction and I am proud of myself. I think it is a great feeling. I feel stronger, more self-confident and patient. I think these qualities are essential for a person who wants to achieve something and succeed in the future. Second, students have competitionsome kind of competition with each other for higher grades. When a student gets a higher grade than another studenthigher grade then another one, the second student asks himself: "Why don't I have this grade?Why do not I have this grade? Is thereit something wrong with me? Is he better than me?" I think every student has asked themselves at least onceevery student at least one time asked himself this question. To sum up, I think there is no doubt that grades encourage students to learn, gain more experience and knowledge, and become more self-confident and persistentgain more experience, knowledge, be more self-confident and persistent. Moreover, I am sure that these small victories will help students to succeedto win and succeed in the future.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response maintains a clear opinion and develops the motivational effect of low and high grades through relevant personal explanation. Its main weakness is uneven development: the competition argument is brief, while recurring awkward wording and grammatical errors reduce precision. The highest priority is to organise the ideas into clear paragraphs and develop each reason with a concise, specific example in more accurate language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The position is clear and relevant reasons are given, with the personal motivation argument well extended but the competition point only briefly developed.
Develop the second reason with a specific example and explain more directly how competition leads to productive learning.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas follow a generally logical sequence and cohesive devices support the argument, but the response is presented as one long paragraph.
Divide the essay into clear introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs, ensuring each body paragraph has one controlling idea.
Lexical Resource
There is enough vocabulary to discuss motivation and achievement, but spelling errors and inaccurate collocations recur throughout.
Replace awkward phrases with natural combinations such as improve my knowledge, make a greater effort, and prepare for the next exam.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses both simple and complex structures, though errors with comparison forms, articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries are frequent.
Proofread especially for than versus then, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation between independent clauses.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Grades (marks) encourage students to learn. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.