Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-13

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 5.5)

In recent times, there has been a rising debate regarding working hours and what can be done after work, where most people tend to be more workaholics and have less interest in anything else, while others work less and are more enthusiastic about their leisure activities than their jobs. I strongly agree that people should be more enthusiastic about their hobbies and leisure interests than their jobs. However, both views will be taken into consideration before a reasonable conclusion is drawn.

To begin with, people who tend to work more and have less time for relaxation period wants to boost the standard of living as well as reduce poverty. For example, when my father was in his prime, he worked hard because he started a family at a very young age with less income, so he took more than one job. As a result, people tend to engage more in workings as to promote well-being and development. Therefore, people have little interest in hobbies or no time for them because more of their free time is taken up by employment.

On the other hand, people decide to spend time relaxing rather than working; as such, people tend to improve health and personal well-being or make dreams come true. To demonstrate, my aunt decided to reduce her working hours and focus on her writing when she followed her dream of becoming an author. Consequently, individuals might want to improve the life span by relaxing more or reducing the level of stress. Therefore, it can be beneficial to reduce workload and engage in interesting hobbies.

In conclusion, some people believe that working hard can promote their standard of living; however, I strongly believe that being more enthusiastic in interested hobbies can decrease stress levels. It is predicted that more people will relax more than work.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both work-oriented attitudes and leisure-focused attitudes, while clearly stating the writer's position in the introduction and conclusion. The ideas are relevant and supported with personal examples, such as the father working multiple jobs and the aunt becoming an author. However, some arguments tend to be a bit repetitive and under-developed, relying heavily on anecdotal evidence rather than broader societal exploration. For instance, the discussion on improving life span and reducing stress is mentioned in both body paragraphs. While a clear position is maintained throughout, the depth of task response aligns best with a Band 6.0 descriptor due to this tendency toward over-generalisation and limited extension of main points.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from introduction to body paragraphs and a concluding summary. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two opposing viewpoints. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as "To begin with", "On the other hand", and "In conclusion". However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes mechanical or slightly awkward, such as "where most people tend to be more workaholics and have less interest" and "focus on her writing when she followed her dream". These slight stiffnesses in transitions and referencing place the essay firmly at the Band 6.0 level, where organization is generally clear despite occasional faults in cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as "standard of living", "well-being", "workload", and "enthusiastic". There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, but these are occasionally marred by word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as "more workaholics" instead of "more workaholic" or "more inclined to be workaholics", and "engage more in workings" instead of "working". Spelling and word formation are generally accurate, and communication is not impeded by lexical errors. This demonstrates the characteristics of Band 6.0 lexical resource, where the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the message despite inaccuracies in less common lexical items.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar. Complex structures are attempted, such as relative clauses and conditional-like constructions (e.g., "when my father was in his prime, he worked hard because..."). However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ("relaxation period wants" instead of "want") and unnatural prepositional usage ("interested hobbies" instead of "interesting hobbies" or "hobbies of interest"). Punctuation is mostly functional. Because these errors occur frequently alongside a mix of structures but rarely impede overall communication, the performance satisfies the Band 6.0 descriptors.

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