Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-26

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 debated that whether employees should socialize with their co-workers or whether they should maintain a gap to keep their professional life totally separated. Although keeping a gap can reduce the chances of misunderstanding and decrease conflicts effectively, I firmly believe that having a small get-together among employees can create healthy work-life balance.

On the one hand, one of the primary reasons why maintaining distanced relationships among workers is beneficial is that sometimes sharing professional thoughts outside the workplace can lead to misunderstandings. This is largely because an information shared by an employee can be used by others negatively, which can have detrimental consequences. A clear example of this can be seen in a few offices where employees collect the data from their co-worker, and later on use it against them. Therefore, it is evident that making a distance is crucial with colleagues, after working hours.

On the other hand, since a little outing with colleague can significantly reduce stress, it allows them to share their interests, which can help to strengthen their bonding outside of workplace. For instance, employees who share similar interests, and live in a same city, may become good friends. It facilitates them to increase the productivity as after becoming good friends they can support each other at the workplace and can work together more efficiently. Hence, socializing with work colleagues can be advantageous.

To conclude, while in a few circumstances, socializing with workers can create misleading. I advocates that going outside with co-worker can not only reduce work related stress, but it also helps them to share the constructive feedback.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed, such as the discussion on potential misunderstandings versus the benefits of stress reduction. However, some arguments are slightly repetitive, and the development could be more nuanced. For instance, the example regarding colleagues using data against each other is a bit generic. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is fully explored with more specific, real-world examples or deeper analysis of the implications of these social dynamics in a professional setting.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'Therefore' are used effectively to guide the reader through the argument. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two opposing views. However, there are minor issues with referencing and flow, such as the slightly awkward phrasing 'making a distance' and 'can create misleading'. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, with some attempts at less common items like 'detrimental consequences' and 'work-life balance'. However, there are several instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'making a distance' (should be 'maintaining distance'), 'an information' (uncountable noun error), and 'can create misleading' (should be 'can be misleading'). While these errors do not impede communication, they limit the score. To improve, focus on learning collocations related to professional environments and ensuring correct usage of nouns and adjectives.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There is a good attempt at using complex sentences, such as 'Although keeping a gap can reduce... I firmly believe that...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('I advocates', 'an information'), article usage ('a little outing with colleague'), and awkward phrasing ('live in a same city'). While the meaning is always clear, the frequency of these minor errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage would be highly beneficial.

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