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 people have a strong interest in their hobbies rather than their jobs. However, other people regard their jobs as their top most priority and are least interested in taking part in other activities. In my opinion, both work as well leisure interests play a significant role in the human lives and must be incorporated through a balanced approach in order to allow individuals to achieve their full potential.

On the one hand, individuals who only find solace in their work does provide meaningful advantages. There are people who prefer the daily hustle and does not feel much drawn towards developing hobbies. Through such behaviour, they believe they can achieve all their goals without even feeling any distraction. For example, individuals with a persistent working habit with no regular hobbies are more likely to complete their daily tasks as compared to the ones who have other leisure activities to perform on their daily routines. Therefore, such people think that prioritising work life provides enormous career benefits.

On the other hand, there are people who regard hobbies and leisure interests as their top most priorities and feel less enthusiastic about their jobs. Performing activities such as playing tennis, reading books or other things on daily basis does does provide people with so many benefits. Not only these habits helps them stay healthy, they also gives them a chance to come of out of their work related problems and feel more relaxed. Moreover, having leisure interests helps people to socialise with other people in society that builds their connections.

In my opinion, I beleive that both work and hobbies are the crucial elements of life. Although regarding work as most important thing does offer significant benefits and helps people achieve their goals much quicker. However, staying focused more on hobbies and lesiure interests rather than jobs is not a good practice. I think that their people should follow a balanced routine in their lives. Staying like a workaholic always sometimes feel draining and might pose serious health concerns as well as only finding joy in hobbies and other leisure actvities can cost financial stability.Therefore, both work and hobbies should become a part of life in order to unlock a full solid potential.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response discusses both attitudes and gives a clear personal view: work and leisure should be balanced. The work-focused paragraph explains that prioritising a job may help people complete tasks and achieve career goals, while the leisure paragraph identifies health, relaxation and social benefits. These points are relevant, and the conclusion returns to the central position. However, some ideas are asserted rather than fully explained. For instance, the comparison about workers completing daily tasks is broad and would be stronger with a specific example or clearer reasoning. The discussion of people who prioritise hobbies also says little about why they may feel less enthusiastic about their jobs. The balanced position is present, but developing these points more evenly would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two attitudes, and a conclusion stating the writer’s view. The signposts “On the one hand” and “On the other hand” make the contrast easy to follow, and ideas generally progress from claims to supporting reasons. The final paragraph also brings the discussion back to balance. Some connections are less smooth, particularly the shift from the benefits of hobbies to the conclusion’s warning about financial stability. The repeated use of “Moreover” and “Therefore” is understandable but can feel formulaic, and “Although” followed by “However” creates an awkward link between sentences. Use a wider range of natural transitions and make the relationship between each example and its main point more explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The response uses an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “solace,” “persistent working habit,” “leisure interests,” “socialise,” and “financial stability.” These choices help express the contrast between career and personal life, and the meaning remains clear despite some inaccurate or unnatural phrasing. For example, “top most priority,” “daily hustle,” and “unlock a full solid potential” are not natural collocations in this context. There are also spelling errors such as “beleive,” “lesiure,” and “actvities,” which reduce accuracy. Aim for precise, conventional combinations such as “top priority,” “work-related stress,” and “reach their full potential.” More consistent control of collocation and spelling would make the vocabulary more flexible and convincing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay attempts a mix of simple and complex structures, including contrast clauses (“Although regarding work as most important thing…”) and a “Not only” construction. Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, but some grammatical errors recur. Subject–verb agreement is inconsistent in “individuals … does provide” and “these habits helps”; the latter also continues with “they also gives.” The phrase “does does provide” contains an accidental repetition, while “their people should” and “come of out” show problems with sentence construction. Articles and punctuation also need attention, as in “as most important thing” and the missing space after “stability.” Review agreement and clause structure, then proofread for repeated words and sentence boundaries. More accurate complex sentences would strengthen control.

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.