Samples / Task 2 essay / Discuss both views / Band 7

Online Courses vs Traditional Classroom Teaching Essay

An IELTS Academic Task 2 essay discussing online learning versus traditional classrooms, written at a Band 6.5 level.

The question

Some people think that online courses will eventually replace traditional classroom teaching. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Nowadays, technology is changing the way we learn. Some people believe that online courses will eventually replace traditional classroom teaching completely, while others think that traditional classroom teaching is still necessary. In this essay, I will discuss both sides of this argument and give my opinion. On the one hand, there are many reasons why online courses are becoming very popular. The main advantage is very convenience. Students do not need to travel to a physical school, which saves a lot of time and money. For example, a person can study a course from university in another country without leaving their home. Furthermore, online courses often allow people to study at their own pace. This is very useful for people who have jobs or families. Therefore, it is easy to see why some people think online courses will replace traditional classroom teaching in the future. On the other hand, traditional classroom teaching have unique benefits that online courses cannot provide. In a real classroom, students can interact with their teachers and classmates directly. This direct interaction helps students to understand the lessons better because they can ask questions immediately. Moreover, studying in a school enviroment teaches students social skills, such as teamwork and communication. If students only study online, they might feel lonely and lack of motivation, which can affect their academic results. In conclusion, although online courses offer great flexibility and convenience, I believe that they will not completely replace traditional classroom teaching. In my opinion, the best approach is a combination of both methods, which is often called blended learning. This way, students can enjoying the benefits of both online courses and traditional classroom teaching.

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This answer was written by a language model to a real exam question, then scored by Bandly against the four public band descriptors. The band is a software estimate. No examiner has marked it, and the band a real examiner would award may differ. Scored with google/gemini-3.5-flash on 2026-09-08.

Estimated overall

Mean of the four criteria, rounded the way the exam rounds it.

Task Response 8

You are at Band 8 because you clearly address all parts of the task and give a well‑developed, well‑supported position, but the discussion of why full replacement will not happen could be a little more fully extended to reach Band 9.

Coherence and Cohesion 6

The response demonstrates clear overall progression and uses cohesive devices effectively, but the paragraphing is not always logical, particularly in the introduction and conclusion.

Lexical Resource 6

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, but occasional inaccuracies in word choice and word formation prevent a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy 7

You use a variety of complex structures and produce frequent error-free sentences, but a few errors in grammar and punctuation prevent a higher score.

What would take this higher

To potentially improve your Coherence and Cohesion score from a band 6 to a band 7, you should focus on logical paragraphing by clearly separating your introduction and conclusion from the main body paragraphs. In your current response, the introduction is merged directly into the first body paragraph, and the second body paragraph runs straight into the conclusion without a clear line break. Creating distinct, well-defined paragraphs for each of these sections would significantly enhance the structural flow and readability of your essay.

Find out what this essay would score

Paste your own answer and Bandly returns an estimated band for each of the four criteria, with the sentences that pulled the score down. Under a cent an essay, about six seconds.

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