Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-28

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)

Hanging out with friends and colleagues after the working hours is very common among many individuals. Although some people believe having social life with co-workers is not a good choice in order to maintain boundaries. I will be discussing both the views and give my opinion in further paragraphs.

To commence with, there are few reasons of why people enjoy spending time with colleagues. Firstly, many individuals believe socializing after work, builds a sense of trust between co-workers as they tend to share their feelings and emotions with each other which reflects on their good performance in working fields. Also, for many people working buddies are the only friends if they are new to the city or if they are living by themself. Therefore, to make their social life a little bit exciting they arrange parties or visit clubs after working hours.

On the opposite side, there are few individuals who prefer to separate their professional and social life. The main reason behind this is to maintain a solid boundaries between their relationships. For instance, having a personal relationship with the colleagues or with any higher authority personnel in company could lead to bias decision or a feeling of unworthiness among other employees.

To conclude, although there are both pros and cons of spending time with co-workers after work but I believe socializing with colleague is not an bad option for individuals who are just having some fun after long hours of work as well as having a transparency between workers allows them to build more trust on each other.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views and providing a clear personal opinion. The ideas are relevant, such as building trust and maintaining professional boundaries. However, the development is somewhat limited. For instance, the point about 'bias decision' is a good observation but could be expanded with a more concrete example to reach a higher band. The position is consistent throughout the essay, and the conclusion effectively summarizes the writer's stance. To improve, ensure that each supporting point is fully explored with more depth and specific illustrative detail.

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 'To commence with', 'Firstly', 'Also', and 'On the opposite side' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as 'living by themself' (should be 'themselves'). The flow is generally smooth, but the connection between sentences could be more sophisticated to achieve a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common collocations, such as 'higher authority personnel' and 'bias decision'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and form, such as 'an bad option' (should be 'a bad option') and 'working fields' (which is slightly unnatural in this context). The range is sufficient to communicate the message, but more precise and varied vocabulary would enhance the quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'there are few reasons of why' (should be 'reasons why'), 'living by themself' (should be 'themselves'), and 'maintain a solid boundaries' (should be 'maintain solid boundaries'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor errors that persist. The writer demonstrates an ability to construct complex sentences, but the frequency of minor errors prevents a higher score in this criterion.

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

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