Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-16

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 the recent time, many individuals are more discplined towards there work should play in their lives, othere belives that hobbies and leisure activities pay greater attention. This essay will discuss both faces before explaining why Ibelive that a balance between work life and personal interests is the most effective approach.

First of all, there are several reasons why some people give priority to their careers. Employment play a vital role which provide the financial security, which is most essential fir metting basic needs and archiving goals.A stable income provide individuals to support their families and achieve their goals. Moreover, peoples with their professions may help to build a Empire from their work. for examples, Doctor's, Chartered accountant, advocate and entrepreneurs spend their valueable time to add on their skills and to achieve their goals.Therefore, individuals are more likely to spend their time in valuble things to gain more knowledge and success.

On the other hand, many people's belived that the life should circle around their hobbies and enjoyment can provide their good mental health and can help to reduce stress level. Activites such as playing sports, reading , travelling or spending time with friends to overall health.Furthermore, pursuing interests outside the work can also build a new skills.For instances,a cricket or football with team or friends may also inprove the physical fitness and strengthe their social connection between them itself. whereas, leisures activities can contribute significance to a person happiness.

In my opinion, having a successful career is the most important perspective to consider the good skills life and can also achive financials success but can experience a stressful life and exhaustions . Maintaining a balance between the work life and leisure activities can lead to heathy life.

In sum up, some people work for their bescuyse of financial health and other for their value hobbies in relaxation and personal fulfillment. at the end healthy balances between both is mandatory for good life.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both attitudes towards work and leisure, and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant, exploring financial security and career progression on one hand, and mental health and skill-building through hobbies on the other. However, some arguments lack full extension and are somewhat repetitive or under-developed. For instance, the point about building an 'Empire' or listing professions like 'Doctor's, Chartered accountant' is brief and contains surface-level explanations rather than deep elaboration. Nevertheless, the position remains clear throughout, aligning best with a Band 6.0 description where all parts are addressed though some ideas are under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is divided into logical paragraphs, each with a distinct focus including an introduction, two body paragraphs discussing opposing views, a personal opinion paragraph, and a conclusion. There is a clear overall arrangement. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. Phrases like 'First of all', 'On the other hand', and 'In sum up' are used, but transitional connections within paragraphs can be awkward or unclear, such as 'whereas, leisures activities can contribute significance'. Pronoun referencing and linking between sentences occasionally lack fluidity, resulting in a score that sits comfortably at Band 6.0 due to the overall coherent structure offset by mechanical cohesive devices.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'financial security', 'personal fulfillment', and 'physical fitness'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, such as 'discplined' instead of 'disciplined', 'othere belives' instead of 'others believe', 'fir metting' instead of 'for meeting', 'archiving' instead of 'achieving', and 'heathy' instead of 'healthy'. While these errors do not severely impede communication because the context is generally understandable, they prevent the writer from achieving a higher band. The lexical control reflects the Band 5.0 to 6.0 threshold, leaning towards Band 5.5 due to the frequency of spelling slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some ambition with structures like subordinate clauses and modal verbs. However, there are frequent grammatical errors in tense consistency, subject-verb agreement, and article usage. Examples include 'Employment play a vital role which provide', 'peoples with their professions may help', 'many people's belived that the life should circle around', and 'a cricket or football with team or friends may also inprove'. Punctuation errors, such as missing spaces after commas and periods, are also present. These errors occasionally cause slight strain for the reader, fitting the Band 5.0 descriptors well.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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