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)

It is often argued that socialising with colleagues is kind of refreshing and healthy for your mental peace, while some people believe that being socialised with colleagues shoukd be prohibited as they want to separate both social life and working life.This essay will discuss both views and give my opinions.

On the one hand many people believe that being socialise with your colleagues gives you more confidence specially if you are an introvert personality. Also it will give you some kind of freedom to not to hook yourself with the same daily routine.Going out on weekends or during evening gives you some refreshments from your work load beacuse sometimes being anti-social call out your brain to just work in fight or flight mode all the time.It is also believe that going out for lunches or dinners with your office members gives a better work environment, and is also very important for your mental health.

On the other hand, there are also strong arguments in favour of to separate work life from social life, one important reason is that some times this social working gives you less time to spend with your family which is also a very important part of your life, for example if you are doing 9 to 5 job and your travel time back to your home is almost 2 hours then after reaching home you do not have much energy to spend with your family, so if that time is also for colleagues then it is not possible to balance both life equally.

In my opinion i prefer to just spend just 1 weekend with colleagues rather then spending every week with them to avoid conflicts with family.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both views and give a personal preference: you explain the benefits of socialising with colleagues, present family time as a reason to keep work and social life separate, and conclude that you would meet colleagues only occasionally. These points are relevant, but the discussion is uneven. The first view includes several benefits, while the opposing view is mainly supported by one example about a long commute and limited energy for family. Your final opinion is also brief and would be clearer if you explained why occasional socialising offers a better balance. Develop both sides with more specific reasoning and make your position explicit throughout, rather than leaving its rationale largely to the conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph for each view, and a concluding opinion. The signposts “On the one hand” and “On the other hand” help readers follow the discussion, and the commute example supports the second view. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. The first body paragraph strings several benefits together, and the link between being “anti-social” and working in “fight or flight mode” is not fully explained. The conclusion is very short and does not draw together the two arguments. Use clearer links between each claim and its explanation, and develop the final paragraph so the essay ends with a more complete synthesis.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of relevant vocabulary, including “work environment,” “mental health,” “daily routine,” and “balance,” which helps communicate the topic. There are also attempts at more expressive language, such as “fight or flight mode,” but some choices are inaccurate or unnatural and occasionally make the meaning less clear. For example, “being socialised with colleagues” does not naturally mean spending time with them, and “refreshments from your work load” is not the intended expression. Spelling errors such as “shoukd” and “beacuse” also reduce accuracy. Aim for precise, natural collocations and check spelling; this will make your ideas easier to understand and give your vocabulary more control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a conditional example beginning “if you are doing 9 to 5 job” and a clause introduced by “while.” However, errors are frequent, and some complex sentences are difficult to follow. Examples include “being socialise … gives,” “it will give you … freedom to not to hook,” and “one important reason is that some times this social working gives you less time.” These show problems with verb forms, sentence construction, articles, and punctuation. Several sentences also run together without clear punctuation. Practise building accurate sentences with subordinate clauses, and check subject–verb agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence boundaries before submitting.

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