Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-14

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 6.0)

It is argued that spending quality time with co-workers is a better approach, while others are in the favour of to have a separate work and social life. Although to be friends with colleagues strengthens social bonding, its deterimental affect on workplace environment can not be overlooked.

Spending quality time with co-workers especially during evenings and weekends can foster effective relationships. Team-members can plan dinners or holidays together and get to know each other. This not only enhances their personal connections, but also creates a friendly working environment and more productivity. It is noticed that, if a company's employees go well together and spend time like friends in their free time, they are more likely to be productive.

Critics and I believe that it is more important to keep personal and professional life different. Being friends with colleagues not only affects on boundries, but also increases toxicity at workplace. If all employees join regularly on meals or parties, it can impact the way they look at their seniors. Perhaps the respect and fear from seniors decline, which could result into an unorganized workplace. Additionally, some colleagues can take jokes seriously and may involve in back-biting, which can result in a toxic working place. For example, in working place every one is in the race of promotion and if someone has intentionaly or unintentionally said anything bad about boss, their secrets can be revealed for the sake of increment.

In conclusion, eventhough it is important to have good connections with team members at workplace, spending evenings or holidays together can be considered as a threat to employee-to-employee respect and also result in negative working environment. In my perspective, it is far better to have friends outside the organization becuase it would npot harm mental health and social connections.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses both views and gives a clear opinion: the first body paragraph explains how socialising can strengthen relationships and productivity, while the second and conclusion argue for keeping work and social life separate. The examples about dinners, respect for seniors, and competition for promotion are relevant. This meets the task well, but the support is uneven: the benefits of socialising are explained mainly in general terms, and the claim that colleagues’ friendships may lead to toxicity or reduced respect could be clarified and supported more carefully. The conclusion restates the position, though its point about protecting mental health is introduced without explanation. Developing these ideas more fully would make the argument more convincing and complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. The progression from the benefits of workplace friendships to the risks, followed by your preference, is easy to follow. Linking phrases such as “Although,” “Additionally,” and “In conclusion” help signal relationships between ideas. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. For example, “Critics and I believe” abruptly introduces your position, and the long example about promotion contains several ideas that are not clearly separated. References such as “their secrets” are also vague, leaving the reader unsure whose secrets are meant. Use more precise referencing and divide complex explanations into clearer steps to make the cohesion more natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary, including “foster effective relationships,” “personal connections,” “professional life,” and “toxic working place,” to discuss the topic. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “employee-to-employee respect” and “the race of promotion.” However, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision, including “deterimental,” “boundries,” “intentionaly,” and “becuase.” Some collocations are awkward or unclear: “in the favour of to have,” “involve in back-biting,” and “result into an unorganized workplace.” Aim for accurate, natural combinations rather than adding complexity; checking spelling and learning common collocations for workplace relationships would make your vocabulary more effective.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response includes both simple and complex sentence forms, including a concessive opening with “Although” and a conditional sentence beginning “if a company’s employees…”. Most ideas remain understandable, but errors in sentence construction and grammatical patterns recur. For example, “others are in the favour of to have” combines incompatible structures, while “Being friends with colleagues not only affects on boundaries” has an incorrect verb pattern. In “if someone has … said anything bad,” the tense construction is faulty, and “which could result into” uses an incorrect preposition within the pattern. Some sentences are also overloaded, particularly the example about promotion, making relationships between clauses harder to follow. Build accuracy by checking verb patterns and simplifying sentences with several linked clauses.

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