Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-26

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 modern era, everyone is very concerned for working schedule and heavy workload. Some people think that having a strong bond among colleagues is a good idea to maintain a healthy work balance. Whereas, others support an idea of keeping professional and personal life separated. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss both view points and give my own view.

On the one hand, It is believed that employees should keep their personal lives away from professional. For example, if there is a worker who is engaged in gossips in break time and after work so there are more possibility of distractions during working hours. Therefore, employees can not concentrate properly on their work. Moreover, interacting with colleagues on weekends and holidays can be worthless due to many reasons. Firstly, workers will start to develop a social relation with their co-workers which is not suitable for productive staff. Secondly, when employees are working in office, there are high chances when they get distracted after looking at their newly made friend.

On the other hand, as we all know the amount of people who are affected by office workload is increasing dramatically over the years. people believe that if workers are given enough time to interact in break and after official hours can be beneficial for them. This will enhance productivity and socialize them at personal level. Apart from them, it is well said that if you want to make a company grows, having strong relationships among employees is only way to do this. Last but not the least, it will reduce stress, tension and anxiety in employees.

In conclusion, having a healthy relationship is an important part of society, but including in workplace is not considered a good idea. employers should make sure that their employees have strong bond but professionalism should not be compromised at any cost.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both views and give a personal position, particularly in the conclusion: you value workplace relationships but say professionalism should remain important. The discussion is relevant, but the ideas are not developed evenly or clearly enough. The argument that socialising causes distraction is repeated in the first body paragraph, while the claim that relationships help a company grow is asserted rather than explained with a specific reason or example. Your position also shifts somewhat: the introduction presents the two sides neutrally, and the conclusion appears to oppose workplace socialising despite acknowledging its benefits. Make your view explicit from the outset and support each main point with a clear explanation or realistic example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Signposts such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the broad organisation. However, progression within paragraphs is less controlled. In the first body paragraph, the points about distraction and unsuitable social relations overlap, and “Firstly” and “Secondly” do not establish a clear distinction between them. Some references are also unclear, as in “Apart from them,” where the intended connection is difficult to identify. Group related reasons, use linking phrases to show cause and contrast precisely, and ensure each paragraph develops one central line of argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “workload,” “productivity,” “professionalism,” and “stress, tension and anxiety,” which allows you to discuss both workplace and social concerns. There are also attempts at less common phrasing, such as “maintain a healthy work balance.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, including “engaged in gossips,” “social relation,” and “make a company grows.” These errors sometimes make the intended meaning less precise. Some expressions, such as “Last but not the least,” are also formulaic. Aim for natural combinations and accurate word forms, for example, “gossip during breaks,” “build relationships,” and “help a company grow.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, using clauses introduced by “if,” “when,” and “which,” as well as contrastive openings. This gives the response some structural variety, and the main message is generally understandable. However, errors in agreement, articles, sentence construction, and punctuation recur. For example, “there are more possibility” has a plural agreement problem, while “if you want to make a company grows” has an incorrect verb pattern. Capitalisation is also inconsistent, as in “It” after a comma and “people” at the start of a sentence. Review subject–verb agreement and verb patterns, and check sentence boundaries and capital letters carefully to make complex sentences more controlled.

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