Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-02

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)

Some people think that it's a good idea to socialise with work colleagues during evenings and weekends. Other people think that it's important to keep working life completely separate from social life.

In my opinion, it's a very good idea to socialise with work colleagues during evenings and weekends because your work colleagues are an important part of your life. It is important for you to have a good bond with them. I strongly believe that success is a result of resilience, hard-work, determination, leadership, and team-work. Therefore, without team-work, your growth will be very limited.

Furthermore, it will be your team who will support you when you'll be falling behind or unable to meet tight deadlines. Therefore, in order to get your team on board, it is very important that you have good understanding with them. Hence, socialising with your work colleagues during evenings and weekends will establish a better understanding between you and your colleagues.

On the other hand, there are also benefits of keeping work-life completely separate from social life, as meeting outside of the office hours can also impact your office relationship. In the office, everyone is very respectful and helpful to each other. This is also because of the office environment, as everyone has to maintain a certain decorum and follow the office rules and working culture.

Therefore, sometimes personal misunderstandings can also impact your ability to work together in a team in the office. It is also true that sometimes getting a lot of involved in each other deteriorates your office relationship.

In conclusion, I would say that both the statements have merit, but in my view it's a good idea to socialise with work colleagues during evenings and weekends. However, it is important to maintain a balanced relationship to get the most benefit out of it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—socialising with colleagues versus keeping work and social life separate—and presents a clear personal position throughout the essay. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others, which places the response at this level. While the arguments supporting socialisation are extended well with explanations regarding teamwork and support systems, the counter-arguments regarding the risks of mixing social and professional lives are somewhat repetitive and rely on general statements like 'getting a lot of involved in each other' without deeper elaboration or concrete examples. To reach a higher band, the writer would need to fully develop all parts of the prompt with extended, specific examples and a more thorough exploration of the counter-perspective.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, dividing the introduction, body paragraphs for each view, and the conclusion logically. The progression of ideas is generally easy to follow, and the writer uses cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'Therefore', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' to signal shifts in thought. However, some cohesive devices feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, particularly the frequent starting of sentences with 'Therefore' and 'It is also true that'. Furthermore, referencing is not always completely clear, as seen in the slightly vague pronoun referencing in the concluding paragraphs. To achieve a higher level of cohesion, the writer should employ a wider variety of transitional phrases and ensure referencing is smooth and unobtrusive throughout the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the writer's ideas without causing confusion. The student makes attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'decorum', 'deteriorates', and 'resilience', demonstrating an awareness of appropriate topic-related lexis. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'getting a lot of involved in each other' instead of becoming too involved in each other's personal lives, and 'good understanding' rather than a strong rapport. Spelling and word formation are generally accurate, and errors do not impede communication. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to incorporate a wider range of less common lexical items with greater precision and natural stylistic control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating subordinating clauses effectively in sentences like 'Some people think that it's a good idea to socialise with work colleagues during evenings and weekends.' There is a good attempt at varied structures, and the punctuation is generally well controlled. However, there are some errors in grammar and sentence patterns, notably the tense error in 'when you'll be falling behind' instead of when you fall behind or are falling behind, and minor prepositional awkwardness. These errors are occasional and rarely impede communication. To attain a higher band, the writer should demonstrate a wider variety of complex structures with more frequent error-free sentences and tighter control over verb tenses in conditional or time clauses.

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

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