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)

Co-workers are a crucial part of people's lives. A large number of individuals claim that to build better relations, it is the best idea to spend time with work colleagues after the office hours; nevertheless, opposed by many on the ground by saying that personal and professional lives should not be mixed. I strongly agree with the former view as there is no harm in building lifetime memories with the people who we work with every day.

On one hand, the most prominent point is that being closer to co-workers by spending some quality time with them outside the workplace helps to reduce the stress of the work-life. To explain it, when people start socializing with their co-workers then it helps them to be close friends of each other which really effects the work environment to be better and makes it easy to handle the stress of workplace together. For example, Colleagues who are friends with each other will always work together to meet important deadlines.

Moreover, the more two people know each other's personal life the more there are chances for them to support each other in difficult times such as financial or health issues. Not only does knowing co-workers well helps to create wonderful memories but also they can be a support for each other when needed as they will already be aware of what is going on in his/her personal life.

On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that mixing up personal and professional lives can also lead to unwanted consequences. Sometimes, having an argument at a personal level with a person can make it difficult to work professionally with him/her which can result in awkward environment at workplace. To state an example, if two friends stop talking to each other due to some personal reasons then it will be hard for them to face each other as co-workers at the workplace.

In conclusion, although both situations have their own merits and demerits, I wholeheartedly hold the view that nothing can beat the friendship a person build with his/her colleagues which makes a persons life full of joy.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views—socialising with work colleagues versus keeping working life separate—and clearly stating a personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant, such as reducing workplace stress and the potential for awkwardness after personal arguments. However, some ideas are a bit repetitive and under-developed, particularly when discussing the benefits of knowing co-workers' personal lives, which holds the response back from a higher level. The arguments are presented clearly, but they lack the fully extended and supported depth required for the next band.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression throughout. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, the two body paragraphs discussing opposing views, and the conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On one hand,' 'Moreover,' and 'On the other hand' are utilized effectively to guide the reader through the arguments. Nevertheless, cohesion is at times slightly mechanical, and referencing occasionally lacks absolute clarity, such as the pronoun use in 'what is going on in his/her personal life,' which prevents the text from achieving a smoother and more natural flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the writer's ideas. There are clear attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'prominent point,' 'unwanted consequences,' and 'wholeheartedly hold the view.' However, some word choices and collocations feel slightly unnatural or awkward, such as 'reduce the stress of the work-life,' 'effects the work environment to be better,' and 'a persons life.' Spelling and word-choice errors are minor and do not impede communication, but they reflect a typical profile of this band level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures reasonably well. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as missing articles, preposition slips like 'on the ground by saying,' and subject-verb agreement issues including 'knowing co-workers well helps' and 'the friendship a person build.' However, these errors rarely impede communication and the meaning remains clear throughout. To reach the next band, the writer would need to produce a higher frequency of error-free complex sentences and exercise tighter control over punctuation and grammatical patterns.

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

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