Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-07

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 6.5)

Some individuals think of their work as the most crucial thing in their life and show little passion towards anything else. On the contrary, there are other individuals who are very passionate about leisure activities than their jobs. I strongly believe that a balance between work and hobbies is pertinent to achieve good mental and physical health.

There is a group of people who prioritize their jobs over everything else. They are of the opinion that their job is the most important thing since, it is their source of sustenance. They would not be able to afford anything without their employment. To be able to enjoy leisure activities, one should be able to pay for them. These people treat their jobs as their identity without which they feel useless. For example, there are so many people who have a monotonous routine of going to work and coming back home. Even though, they have both time and resources to enjoy a little, they still choose to ignore it. Hence, in pursuit of their work they sometimes forget to live a little.

There is another school of thought who are more enthusiastic about their hobbies and fun activites rather than their jobs. They are of the opinion that you only live once, so you should live a life that interests you and that makes you happy. They work to live, not live to work. They treat their jobs as just a part of their lives and not the center of it. Enjoying one's life and following one's passion is crucial but so is the job. When people are not passionate about their jobs they just want to get done with it which leads to poor performance. The poorer your performance is, the poorer your chances of growth are.

Some people treat their work as the center of their lives and pay no heed to other things, whilst there are others who are more into their hobbies and their interests than their jobs. I firmly maintain that work-life balance is the key to good health and happiness and both should be treated equally.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both attitudes and state a clear opinion: “a balance between work and hobbies” is important for health and happiness. The discussion of work-focused people is relevant and includes reasons such as employment providing “sustenance” and shaping identity. You also explain the leisure-focused view through the idea that people “work to live, not live to work.” However, some points are asserted rather than fully developed. The example of people following a monotonous routine is general, and the claim that poor performance reduces career growth is not clearly connected to why people prioritise hobbies. Your own position is repeated in the introduction and conclusion, but the essay could explain more specifically how people can balance these priorities and why that is preferable to either extreme.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two attitudes, and a concluding statement of your view. This makes the main line of discussion easy to follow. You use linking expressions such as “On the contrary,” “For example,” and “Hence,” and the contrast between the two groups is generally clear. At times, however, the connections feel mechanical or the references are imprecise. For instance, “There is another school of thought who” does not clearly refer to people, and the final paragraph largely repeats the introduction rather than drawing the discussion together. Improve progression by linking each example directly to the point it supports and using the conclusion to synthesise the two perspectives.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You show an adequate range and some effective less common vocabulary, including “prioritize,” “source of sustenance,” “monotonous routine,” and “pursuit.” These choices help you discuss work, identity, and leisure without relying entirely on basic wording. Some expressions are less natural or precise, however: “passion towards” and “more enthusiastic about their hobbies … than their jobs” could be phrased more idiomatically, while “pertinent to achieve” is an awkward collocation. There is also a spelling error in “activites.” The repeated use of “people,” “jobs,” and “important” limits flexibility somewhat. Aim for accurate collocations and vary key terms, for example by using “employment,” “career,” or “recreational interests” where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex structures, including subordinate clauses such as “since, it is their source of sustenance” and the conditional construction “When people are not passionate about their jobs…”. Many sentences are clear, and errors rarely prevent understanding. Some punctuation and sentence-structure issues remain: the comma after “since” is unnecessary, and “Even though, they have both time and resources…” incorrectly separates the introductory clause. In “There is another school of thought who,” the relative pronoun does not agree with the noun it refers to; a clause referring to people would be clearer. The sentence beginning “The poorer your performance is” is grammatical but could be integrated more smoothly with the preceding explanation. Continue checking clause punctuation and agreement while maintaining your range of sentence forms.

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