Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-08

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)

It is an ongoing debate regarding whether people should socialize with their colleagues outside of their work schedule or keep their professional and social lives completely different. While spending time with colleagues can improve their relationships at work, I believe that maintaining a balance between work and personal life is more important.

Examining the former opinion, supporters would argue that socializing with work colleagues during evenings and weekends has several benefits. Firstly, it can improve their bonding outside of work. They can build stronger relationships, which helps them understand each other better. If people spend time with each other outside of work in a relaxed environment, they can communicate more comfortably. Social activities can reduce stress and help them connect more easily. For instance, people who have good friendships outside of their work may help each other at work to support each other.

On the contrary, supporters of the latter opinion argue that it is good to maintain a balance between work and personal life. To begin with, spending most of their time at work, employees may need private time to spend with their family. Having free time outside of work helps people to reduce their workloads. Besides this, socializing with work people too often may make them feel that they are still at work. For example, a person likes to spend their weekend with family or a friend rather than attending a work gathering.

Taking everything into consideration and offering my position, there are valid arguments on both sides of this issue. However, I certainly favour the latter arguments. This is because it offers more advantages and brings more positive in the long run. Spending time at work is necessary for personal growth but having space outside of work is also needed for healthy life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You discuss both perspectives and state a clear preference for keeping work and personal life separate, so the response addresses the main parts of the task. The first view is supported with relevant points about stronger relationships, easier communication and reduced stress. However, the example that colleagues “may help each other at work to support each other” is repetitive and does not show clearly how socialising leads to a specific benefit. The case for separation is also relevant, especially the need for family time, but “helps people to reduce their workloads” is not explained and seems less directly connected to the argument. Your conclusion repeats your preference, though “more positive in the long run” needs a clearer explanation. Develop these points with more precise reasoning and examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, one paragraph for each view, and a concluding paragraph that restates your position. The progression is easy to follow, and signposts such as “Examining the former opinion,” “On the contrary,” and “Taking everything into consideration” help readers recognise the stages of the discussion. Within paragraphs, ideas generally move in a sensible order, from a claim to an explanation or example. Some linking is mechanical, however, with “Firstly,” “To begin with,” and “Besides this” doing much of the organisational work. There is also repetition within the first body paragraph, particularly “help each other at work to support each other.” Use clearer referencing and vary the way you connect cause, consequence and example to make cohesion more flexible.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including phrases such as “professional and social lives,” “relaxed environment,” “maintain a balance,” and “healthy life.” These choices make the main ideas clear, and you attempt some less common expressions such as “ongoing debate” and “personal growth.” At times, however, word choice or collocation is imprecise: “improve their bonding” is less natural than “strengthen their relationships,” while “work people” is vague and “brings more positive” is not idiomatic. “Completely different” also does not express the idea of keeping two areas separate as precisely as it could. Aim to use more natural collocations and avoid repeating broad terms such as “work” and “time” when a more specific phrase would clarify your meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, and several sentences are controlled, including “If people spend time with each other outside of work in a relaxed environment, they can communicate more comfortably.” The opening sentence also uses a clear whether-clause structure. Some grammatical errors remain, but they rarely prevent understanding. For example, “spending most of their time at work, employees may need private time” has an awkward introductory participle construction; “employees who spend most of their time at work may need…” would be clearer. In “a person likes to spend their weekend,” the tense does not fit the general example, and “a healthy life” needs an article. The final sentence also joins two independent ideas without punctuation before “but.” Continue practising accurate complex clauses and checking articles, tense consistency and sentence boundaries.

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