Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-05

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)

Some people believe that work is only important thing in life rather than other things like having interest in hobbies or any leisure interest. This essay will highlight both views and opinion in upcoming paragraphs.

To start with, work is important thing in life because it is not only crucial for survival of human but also for their well-being. Working in job helps individual to gain more knowledge as well as faciliate their personal development. Another reason is that work is significant because it helps one to get experience and boost their self confidence.

However, when individual do their favourite hobby then they can relieve from daily stress and improve work-life balance. Therefore, it leads to increase productivity in the workplace. Furthermore, individual self-satisfaction can also be gain by spending their leisure time in the hobbies which they are liked.

To conclude, I would like to state that individual should adopt sagacious approach towards their job and interests in order to gain holistic growth with resplendent walk of life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the task partially, as it attempts to discuss both attitudes towards work and leisure while providing a personal opinion. However, the most critical issue is that the text falls significantly short of the 250-word minimum, containing only 169 words. Because of this severe length limitation, the ideas presented remain quite limited and under-developed. For instance, the discussion on why work is crucial for survival and well-being is introduced but lacks extension or detailed examples. Similarly, the points regarding stress relief and productivity are stated briefly without sufficient elaboration. To move to a higher band, the response must meet the word count requirement and fully develop each viewpoint with robust arguments and supporting evidence.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some basic organisation in the essay, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing both sides, and a conclusion. However, there is no clear overall progression of ideas, and the paragraphs are brief and underdeveloped. Cohesive devices are sometimes used mechanically or inaccurately, such as starting a body paragraph with 'However, when individual do their favourite hobby then they can relieve...' which creates awkward transitions. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and paragraphing could be managed more effectively to group related ideas. To improve, the writer needs to ensure logical sequencing between sentences and make more natural use of cohesive ties to connect arguments smoothly.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to convey basic meaning. The student attempts some less common items such as 'sagacious', 'holistic growth', and 'resplendent', but these show some awkwardness in collocation and style, reflecting a lack of precision. There are also noticeable lexical errors and missing articles, such as 'work is only important thing' instead of 'the most important thing', and word form errors like 'individual self-satisfaction can also be gain'. These flaws cause some difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher band, the writer should focus on natural word choice, correct word forms, and precise collocations rather than relying on overly ambitious or misused adjectives.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response displays a limited range of grammatical structures. While there are some attempts at complex sentences, they are often faulty, featuring frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that can cause difficulty for the reader. Examples include subject-verb agreement and pluralisation issues such as 'when individual do their favourite hobby then they can relieve' and 'in the hobbies which they are liked'. There are also missing articles and prepositions throughout the text. To reach a higher band, the writer needs to demonstrate better control over basic grammatical structures, ensure accurate verb forms and plurals, and reduce the frequency of errors in complex sentences.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.