Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Predictions Nov 2026 · 2026-11-09

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people believe that work should offer social interaction as well as income, while others think that socialising with colleagues should take place outside work.

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 rapidly evolving world, some individuals believe that interacting with other people on a work place is important as well as income, while some people argue that socialising with office partners should take place outside work. In my opinion, I totally agree with that we should interact with our colleagues while working, there are many advantages of social interaction. In this essay we will discuss both perspectives.

On the one hand, the individuals who states that work should offer social interaction as well as income gives several points that while working in any office or at any place we should interact with our colleagues as it gives a confidence to provoke your thinking and you are in practice that how to deal with different kinds of people. Talking to other colleagues at work place helps to team up and split your work with your team. For example, if a person is working in a team, so he can split his work with his colleagues and he can feel light and relaxed. Many studies have shown that interacting with job partners helps to boost your knowledge as well as it increases self confidence.

On the other hand, the people who argues that socialising with other people at work place is not justified, these individuals mostly gives several points that colleagues at work place starts to bully other people at their offices for not doing work properly and secondly the colleagues at work place are not loyal with anyone and they can back stab anyone at anytime when ever they see their benefits. For example, if you are doing your great job and giving your 100% efforts in your and your colleagues saw this, there first step will be to find your mistake and back bite it to the boss and then boss can fire you from the job. These are some reasons that other individuals argue for not socialising with your job partners and you should keep your friendships out of the work place. Many studies have shown that there are more chances for getting fired from job if you share your work experiences with your colleagues as they are not loyal with you.

In conclusion, while discussing both point of views of different people thinking about whether we should interact with colleagues or not. In my opinion, I totally agree with that we should interact with our colleagues while working, there are many advantages of social interaction.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both views and state a consistent preference for interaction at work, so the reader can identify your position. The first body paragraph gives relevant benefits, including sharing tasks and learning to deal with different people. However, the discussion is uneven: the case for keeping socialising outside work is presented mainly through bullying, disloyalty and fear of being fired, without considering more balanced reasons such as maintaining professional boundaries or avoiding distractions. Several claims, including that colleagues are generally disloyal, are broad and unsupported. Your conclusion repeats your opinion but does not draw together the discussion. Develop each side with clearer reasoning and a specific, credible example to make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs signposted by “On the one hand” and “On the other hand,” and a conclusion. This makes the overall arrangement easy to follow. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical, with repeated phrases such as “at work place” and “colleagues,” and several ideas are joined in long sentences rather than clearly separated. The example about a colleague reporting mistakes to a boss is difficult to follow, particularly “there first step,” and the final paragraph largely repeats the introduction instead of synthesising the two views. Use clearer sentence boundaries, vary linking language, and make references explicit so the connections between claims and examples are easier to track.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “social interaction,” “team up,” “self confidence,” and “back stab.” However, the range is limited and several expressions are repetitive or imprecise. Phrases such as “office partners,” “job partners,” and “interact with other people on a work place” are not natural choices for this topic; “colleagues” and “interact with colleagues in the workplace” would be more idiomatic. Some wording also makes meaning less clear, as in “provoke your thinking” and “back bite it to the boss.” Aim for accurate collocations and a wider range of precise terms, such as “collaborate,” “professional relationships,” and “workplace boundaries.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “while,” “as,” and “if,” but control is inconsistent and errors recur across the response. Examples include “the individuals who states,” where the verb does not agree with its subject, and “the people who argues,” which has the same problem. There are also faulty sentence patterns, such as “I totally agree with that we should interact,” and “if a person is working in a team, so he can split his work,” where the conditional clause is not joined correctly to the main clause. Articles, plurals and punctuation also need attention. Practise building shorter, accurate sentences first, then combine ideas using controlled subordinate clauses.

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