Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-15

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)

In today’s busy working environment, socializing has become an important part of people’s lives. While some people believe that they should socialise with their colleagues outside working hours, others prefer to keep their professional and personal lives separate. This essay will discuss both views and explain my opinion in following paragraphs.

On the one hand, few people think that socializing with working partners are beneficials. Firstly, it can strengthen a strong relationship with their colleagues and also helpful in teamwork as employers have an opportunity to talk with relax and develop trust. As a result, they can share ideas with each other comfortably and helping each other with working related problems. Secondly, this type of social activities can create a positive and supportive work environment. Employers who have good relationship with their coworker can help to reduce their work stress at workplace. As a result, they feel more comfortable at workplace. For instance, a new employee who joins colleagues for a weekend outing may quickly develop friendships and feel more confident at work.

On the other hand, others believe that professional and social lives should be kept separate. Firstly, this approach gives employers more time to their family members as well as they can doing work on their personal interests which can contribute their work-life balance. For instance, parent may prefer to do dinner with their children can improve bonding with their loved once. Secondly, keeping social and working life separate can help to disconnect with work related stress. It may assist them to switch off mentally from their work life and whenever they returned for their work with feeling of refreshed and more productive.

In my opinion, a balanced approach is best. People can socialise with their colleagues sometimes, but they should not have to attend every event. This way, they can have good relationships at work while also having enough time for their personal life.

In conclusion, socialising with colleagues can improve teamwork, while keeping work and personal life separate gives people more free time. Therefore, I believe a balance between the two is best.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The essay addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both perspectives and providing a clear personal opinion. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed, such as the benefits of teamwork and the importance of work-life balance. However, there is a tendency to over-generalize, and some points could be extended further with more specific, nuanced examples. The position is consistent throughout the response, and the conclusion effectively summarizes the main arguments. To reach a higher band, ensure that the arguments are supported with more sophisticated reasoning rather than repetitive points about stress and comfort.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two viewpoints. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing and flow, such as the phrase 'in following paragraphs' in the introduction, which is slightly unnatural. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear, and the structure supports the reader's understanding of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to convey their ideas clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'professional and personal lives', 'work-life balance', and 'supportive work environment'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'beneficials' (should be 'beneficial') and 'doing work on their personal interests' (should be 'pursuing personal interests'). While these errors do not impede communication, they limit the score. Using more precise synonyms and collocations would improve the lexical range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('few people think that socializing... are beneficials') and article usage. There are also issues with word forms, such as 'talk with relax' instead of 'talk in a relaxed manner' and 'loved once' instead of 'loved ones'. These errors occur throughout the text. To improve, the student should focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and ensuring that complex structures are formed correctly.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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