Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-22
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 5.5)
Many people believe that spending time with work friends during evenings and weekends is a good thinking, while other belives that it is crucial to keep both the working and private life separate. Therefore, i will discuss both the views and give my opinion.
To begin with, discussing the first view by spending some time with colleagues after work or weekends is a good idea because after a long day of work person needs to get some free moments with friends when he or she can discuss some jokes and share some thoughts.
Furthermore, people can go for outing also on saturday or sunday, even they can go on trip and can enjoy some time without family where they can get freedom.For instance, after a long week of work i am also going for outing with my friends to do some shopping and enjoy some time together.
Besides these, many people belive it is crucial to keep both the life separate because according to them it is significant to understand the difference between both the life. AS some people would not like to interfere in somebodys private life. And they want to enjoy some free time with the family itself. Therefore they think to keep private and social life separate.
To discuss my opinion, i am totally agree with first view because i believe people needs to get some leisure time with the colleagues because we spent more days with family but with friends we are not getting that much of time. So enjoying with them in the evening or weekend is a good idea.
To conclude, some are thinking this is good idea to spend some time time with work friends is a good idea, while other believe it is important to keep personal and social life separate however i am agree with the first view because people needs to spend some time with colleagues.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The student addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views on socialising with work colleagues and providing a clear personal opinion. The main ideas are presented, such as the need for relaxation, freedom from family routines, and the counter-argument about maintaining professional boundaries and family time. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the reasons given for socialising are reiterated in the conclusion without adding new depth. Examples tend to rely on generalised personal anecdotes rather than fully extended reasoning. Nevertheless, the requirements of the prompt are successfully fulfilled, placing this response comfortably at Band 6.0 according to the descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure separating the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader, such as To begin with, Furthermore, and Besides these. However, referencing is sometimes faulty or mechanical, and transitions between sentences can feel abrupt. For example, the phrase 'Besides these' is awkward and non-standard. Paragraphing is present and mostly appropriate, though the integration of ideas within paragraphs lacks smooth logical progression at times. This reflects the characteristics of Band 6, where cohesion is occasionally faulty and referencing is not always completely clear.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating everyday concepts related to work and social life. There are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'belives' instead of 'believes', 'outing' used without an article, and 'i am totally agree' rather than 'I totally agree'. Less common lexical items are attempted, but they often contain inaccuracies in collocation or form. Despite these errors, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning without severely impeding communication. This performance aligns well with the Band 5.0 to 5.5 descriptors, leaning towards a stable 5.5 due to the range of vocabulary attempted.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capability to construct multi-clause sentences. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('people needs', 'person needs'), missing capitalization on the pronoun 'I', and awkward phrasing like 'we are not getting that much of time'. Punctuation errors are also present, such as missing spaces after periods. While complex structures are attempted, they are often faulty, and the high frequency of basic grammatical slips places this response firmly at Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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