Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-12

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)

In this contemporary era, a few people believe that socialising with office colleagues after working hours is a great idea especially during evenings and weekends. However, others oppose this notion and suggest that maintaining a distance with work and social life is pertinent. This essay will discuss both the viewpoints and will state why I support the former scenario.

The supporters of first statement state that socialising with office colleagues helps to get relieve from the work stress. If team workers go oustide after having hectic schedule, they feel refreshed and they can share their thoughts and ideas related to their work as well. Another point to consider is that it helps to increase productivity and builds a strong relationship among team members. As weekends are a great way to unwind and after enjoying the weekends with office workers, they can work efficiently and effectively which will increase their morale to work in a better way, also, spending time with each other leads to build a strong and long term relationship between them.

On the other hand, the advocates of second statement holds a view that work life and social life should kept seperate. The first reason to support is privacy of employees. In order to protect the private life of office worker, the free time should not be given to office colleagues, instead, they should spend their time with family members and friends. Some individuals do not feel comfortable sharing their after office time with others specially with teammates. Thus, they should be given freedom to enjoy their free time. Generally, most of the people prefer to spend their time at home or doing sports activities with their friends.

Taking everything into consideration, while some people support that it is crucial to keep working life completely seperate from social life, I personally beileve that it is a good idea to socialise with work colleagues during evenings and weekends.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both views and state a clear preference for socialising with colleagues, so the response is relevant to the task. The first body paragraph gives reasons such as relieving stress, sharing ideas and strengthening team relationships; the second explains privacy and the value of spending free time with family or friends. However, these points are mostly asserted rather than developed with specific examples or explanation. For instance, the link between weekend socialising and increased productivity is repeated but not demonstrated. Your conclusion restates your position without adding much. To strengthen the response, explain one or two key points in more depth and include a relevant example showing how socialising can benefit a team, while also acknowledging when keeping work and social life separate may be preferable.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a recognisable structure: an introduction, one paragraph for each viewpoint, and a conclusion. Transitions such as “However,” “On the other hand,” and “Taking everything into consideration” help signal the stages of the discussion. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes repetitive or unclear. In the first body paragraph, the ideas about productivity, morale and strong relationships overlap, and the long final sentence makes their connections difficult to follow. Phrases such as “the first reason to support” also do not clearly identify which view is being supported. Use clearer topic sentences, organise each paragraph around distinct reasons, and connect claims to explanations or examples. This would make the overall progression more consistent and reduce reliance on formulaic linking phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “socialising,” “productivity,” “privacy,” “morale” and “unwind,” and the reader can generally understand your meaning. You also attempt more formal expressions such as “maintaining a distance” and “pertinent,” though some choices are unnatural or imprecise. For example, “get relieve from the work stress” and “go oustide” do not express the intended ideas accurately, while “the former scenario” is less direct than simply naming your position. Spelling errors such as “seperate” and “beileve” are noticeable. Aim for natural collocations and check spelling carefully; precise, straightforward wording will be more effective than formal-sounding phrases that do not fit the context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including conditional and subordinate structures, as in “If team workers go oustide after having hectic schedule…” and “In order to protect the private life…”. However, errors occur often enough to make some sentences awkward or difficult to process. Examples include “the advocates … holds a view,” where the subject and verb do not agree, “work life and social life should kept seperate,” which is missing a verb form, and “I personally beileve,” which contains a spelling error rather than a grammar error. The long sentence beginning “As weekends are a great way to unwind” also has weak punctuation and several clauses joined together. Practise accurate agreement, articles and verb forms, and divide long sentences into clearer units while retaining some complex structures.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.