Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-02

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)

A growing number of people believe that it would be beneficial for employees to spend weekends or evenings with their colleagues in order to spend some quality time and become social and active person. Others argue that it would be better to separate their private and professional life. I partially agree with the given statements, as spending leisure time with co-workers allow them to build good relationship with them, whereas it can leads to conflicts in their life due to spending less time with their family members.

On the one hand, arranging weekend trips or dine out with colleagues during evenings encourage individuals to spend time with them in order to get them know more and discuss their professional problems. In certain situations, it would be difficult for them to share work problems at office, so weekends provide them suitable environment for discussing important topics related to their work and sometimes seek advice from their co-workers to overcome their challenges. Apart from that, this kind of meetings play a pivotal role for the development of good bonding and become familiar with each others. As a result, it will makes the work place quite friendly, positive, they can exchange their thoughts easily and being a support during tough time during their professional journey.

On the other hand, spending more time with colleagues have a plenty of drawbacks for individuals. Firstly, it will imbalance their work-life and create conflicts with their family due to lack of family time. Consequently, it will weaken their relationship with family and feel isolated during social gatherings and family functions. More work discussion may build burden on person and it can makes them workaholic over time, therefore, frequent breaks after long working hours, outdoor activities with family and attending social events have positive impact on their productivity, work efficiency, balance their work and life and promote healthy life. Also, separating professional and personal life brings happiness, charm and positive vibes in their life.

In conclusion, hang out with colleagues on weekends facilitate individuals to strengthen their relationship with them, makes a new friends at work place, discuss challenging topics with co-workers and get support during project presentation in the office. However, it can leads to weaken their bonding with their relatives, increase the chances to feel isolation during family events which disturb their work-life balance.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed, such as the benefits of professional networking and the potential for work-life imbalance. However, some points, like the mention of 'project presentation' in the conclusion, feel slightly disconnected from the earlier arguments. The position is maintained throughout, though the development could be more nuanced to reach a higher band. Overall, the task requirements are met with a clear structure and logical progression of ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph has a central topic, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'Consequently' are used effectively to link ideas. However, there are instances where the flow is slightly mechanical, and some referencing is a bit repetitive. The transition between the benefits of socializing and the drawbacks is handled well, ensuring the reader understands the shift in perspective.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task. You use some good collocations like 'pivotal role', 'work-life balance', and 'professional journey'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'become social and active person' (should be 'become a more social and active person') and 'hang out with colleagues' (which is slightly informal for an essay). There is also some repetition of basic words like 'life' and 'time'. Expanding your range of synonyms would help improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues like 'it can leads to' (should be 'it can lead to'), 'it will makes the work place' (should be 'it makes the workplace'), and 'it can makes them workaholic' (should be 'it can make them workaholics'). Punctuation is generally functional, but these recurring errors in verb forms and articles prevent a higher score.

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