Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-07-26

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people regard work as the most important thing in life and have little interest in anything else. Other people are more enthusiastic about their hobbies and leisure interests than their jobs.

Discuss both these attitudes and give your own opinion.

You should use your own ideas, knowledge and experience and support your arguments with examples and relevant evidence.

Student answer (Band 7.5)

Some people consider work to be the most essential aspect of their lives, and they are uninterested in anything else. Others are more inclined towards their hobbies and personal life than they are about their employment. In my opinion, both aspects of life are important to live a satisfactory and meaningful life. This essay aims to discuss the same in detail.

First of all, ever increasing competition has led to normalization of working more than 40 hours a week. Even though people might not be as productive as they can be if a balance is restored in their lives, they feel obligated to work for more than their capacity. For instance, people working in Big 4 consultancies lose their productivity and concentration in work due to long working hours and lack of sleep. Consequently, this leads to a decrease in quality of work as well as life.

In contrast, the sole emphasis on lifestyle and hobbies can cause financial distress. Although some people have succeeded in pursuing their passion and maintaining lifestyles, everyone might not have the luxury to even pursue their passion. Even if they do so, they might get into serious financial trouble. For example, even though many people experienced an extreme burn out in their jobs in the pandemic, they couldn’t leave their jobs due to financial obligations. As a result, lifestyle and hobbies took a backseat completely.

To conclude, a work life balance is the key to a content and prosperous life. A balance needs to be maintained in the work environment for welfare of the employees and the companies itself.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The essay addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both attitudes toward work and leisure and providing a clear personal opinion. The ideas are relevant, such as the mention of 'Big 4 consultancies' to illustrate work-life imbalance and the financial constraints that prevent people from prioritizing hobbies. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat brief. To reach a higher band, the arguments could be extended with more depth or nuanced analysis regarding why these attitudes exist in modern society. The position is consistent throughout, and the conclusion effectively summarizes the main argument for balance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central theme, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. Cohesive devices such as 'First of all', 'In contrast', 'Consequently', and 'To conclude' are used effectively to link sentences and paragraphs. While the structure is sound, the flow could be slightly more sophisticated by varying the transition markers and ensuring that the relationship between the two viewpoints is more tightly integrated within the overall argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

The vocabulary is generally appropriate and sufficient for the task. You use some good collocations like 'financial distress', 'financial obligations', and 'work-life balance'. There are some minor issues with word choice, such as 'normalization of working' (which could be 'the normalization of working') and 'for welfare of the employees' (which requires an article: 'for the welfare'). While the range is adequate, incorporating more precise or academic vocabulary would elevate the response. The current range is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly without any significant impediment to the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical slips, such as 'everyone might not have the luxury' (which is slightly awkward; 'not everyone has the luxury' is more natural) and 'companies itself' (should be 'companies themselves'). Punctuation is generally accurate, and the errors present do not impede communication. To improve, try to incorporate a wider variety of complex grammatical structures, such as conditional sentences or passive voice constructions, while maintaining the current level of accuracy.

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