Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-12

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people think that it’s a good idea to socialise with work colleagues during evenings and weekends. Other people think it’s important to keep working life completely separate from social life.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

It is often argued by some that it is crucial to socialize with work-mates after work and during weekends. While others believe that it is essential to maintain work-life balance and maintaining a clear boundary between professional duties and personal relationships is essential. I firmly agree with the latter view, as keeping working life separate from social life is crucial so that important bonds between families does not get affected.

On the one hand, social interactions after work or on weekends assist to improve interpersonal relationships between colleagues. when team members know each other on personal level, they communicate effectively and corporate better during working hours. it helps to develop stronger team dynamics and collaboration. Furthermore, friendships at work improve job satisfaction and morale. Having a strong support system at work makes daily tasks less stressed and enhance productivity of employees.

On the other hand, mixing personal life with corporate life can be harmful. personal disagreements and gossips outside of workplace can spill into the office on Monday morning, which creates awkwardness, stress and or even damaging the personal growth at worksite. Furthermore, there should be a firm line between career and personal relationships to avoid unbiased professional judgement. For instance, for managers or supervisors, being too close to subordinates can make it difficult to provide unbiased and clear objective reviews.

In conclusion, although going out with work employees after work or during weekends can improve interpersonal relationships, it may raise several issues such as biased professional relationships. Therefore, there should be a clear boundary between professional and d personal lives.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all parts of the task by discussing both perspectives and clearly stating your own opinion in the introduction. Your position is maintained throughout the essay. The ideas are relevant, such as the benefits of team dynamics versus the risks of personal conflicts affecting professional judgment. However, some points could be further developed with more specific examples. For instance, while you mention that friendships improve morale, a concrete example of how this happens in a specific workplace setting would strengthen your argument. Overall, the response is well-focused and meets the requirements of the prompt effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Furthermore', and 'In conclusion' to guide the reader through your arguments. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two opposing views. However, there are minor issues with cohesion in some sentences, such as the slightly awkward phrasing in the introduction: 'maintaining a clear boundary... is essential' following 'maintain work-life balance'. Additionally, some transitions could be smoother to improve the flow between ideas. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with some precision, using terms like 'interpersonal relationships', 'corporate life', and 'unbiased professional judgement'. There are some instances of slightly unnatural collocations or word choices, such as 'corporate better' (should be 'cooperate') and 'less stressed' (should be 'less stressful'). You also have a few minor errors, such as 'gossips' (gossip is an uncountable noun) and 'at worksite'. Despite these, the vocabulary is adequate for the task and does not impede communication. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise collocations and avoiding minor word-form errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this level. There are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('important bonds... does not get affected') and punctuation errors, such as the lack of capitalization at the start of sentences ('when team members...', 'it helps...'). While these errors are noticeable, they do not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning. To improve, pay closer attention to basic sentence mechanics, such as capitalization and subject-verb agreement, and try to incorporate a wider variety of complex structures with greater accuracy.

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