Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

World has been evolving, some people are workholic and prefer to focus on it in order to be successful whereas others find interest in focusing towards other hobbies and leisure. Both the ideas are impressive in their own ways but in my opinion, one should emphasis on work and give a little time to the extra activities. Having a good balance between both of them is crucial to be in safe zone where you can earn and also do what you like.

One reason of being more proffessional is that at the end of the day you need money to survive and for that you have to give your best to your job. Additionally, life is not always about the interests and enjoyment, it is to acheive a few milestone by being dedicated to the profession which gives you good lifestyle and social status. For example, at the age of 21, i was inclined towards heena art but i realised that it can be an art which makes me feel good but not an occupation which will provide me the career which i want for myself. Today i take free time to apply heena but being a HR proffessional is something which i do for my livelihood.

It might be complicated to spare time for the passion that you have with the career that you are focusing on. Therefore equating among them will make us feel happy satisfied from both the side because an individual get tired of doing same thing for a long time so change is something that should be there to feel relaxed and releived.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear personal view that work should take priority while people still make time for leisure, and the example of choosing an HR career while keeping henna art as a hobby helps explain this position. However, the task asks you to discuss both attitudes, and the response mainly develops the case for work and balance. The view of people who prioritise hobbies is only briefly acknowledged, without explaining why they might choose that lifestyle or what benefits it offers. The point about money and social status is relevant, but several claims remain general. To strengthen the response, explain both perspectives more evenly and support each with a specific reason or example before drawing your conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph supporting work, and a paragraph about balancing work with leisure. Linking expressions such as “Additionally” and “Therefore” help signal relationships between ideas. However, the progression is not fully clear because the second body paragraph does not distinctly discuss the hobby-focused attitude; instead, it returns to the idea of balance. Some connections are also difficult to follow, particularly “equating among them” and “satisfied from both the side.” Use clearer topic sentences to show the purpose of each paragraph, and organise the discussion as work-focused attitudes, leisure-focused attitudes, then your own balanced view. This would make the argument easier to follow and reduce reliance on general linking phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “dedicated to the profession,” “livelihood,” “social status,” and “leisure,” and the personal example gives you opportunities to express specific ideas. However, the range is limited and several inaccurate word choices or collocations make parts of the argument unclear, such as “equating among them,” “safe zone,” and “a few milestone.” Spelling errors, including “workholic,” “proffessional,” “acheive,” and “releived,” are also noticeable. Aim for more precise phrases and check spelling carefully. For example, you could describe balancing work and hobbies as “maintaining a healthy work–life balance,” and refer to “achieving career goals” rather than “achieve a few milestone.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple and longer sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “whereas,” “because,” and “which,” so there is some variety. Meaning is generally understandable, but errors in sentence construction and grammatical forms occur throughout. For example, “World has been evolving” needs an article, “one should emphasis” uses the wrong grammatical form after “should,” and “an individual get tired” has a subject–verb agreement error. The final sentence also joins several ideas in a way that makes the relationship between them unclear. Review articles, agreement, verb forms, and punctuation, and divide long sentences when they contain several separate points. More accurate control of these patterns would make your ideas easier to understand.

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

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