Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-26

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)

For some people work is the foremost important thing to do in their life while some people believe in spending their time on other interests. In my opinion, working on your job and spending time on other interests is equally important.This essay will examine how being a workaholic increases the chances of success meanwhile it will also discuss how consuming personal time for other hobbies is also necesary for your health.

Working passiontely has been directly linked to success. A person who takes his work life seriously is often more disciplined, critical thinker and career-oriented. For example, Elon musk is working day and night to become one of the greatest technology expert in the history. Recently, he has invented a flying car which shows his unlimited resilience for the success. Although being able to work all the time and not wasting time on other things foster progress and growth but it can also cause stress and burnout. Therefore, it is essential for the person to look after their health during work.

On the other hand, people who are not passionate about their work life and enjoy taking part in other activities are more likely to become less successful in their life or they may take more time to achieve a goal as compared to the person who work passionately. For example, in the work place an employee does not take leaves and work extra time is likely to develop more as compared to the one who takes early offs.

In conclusion, working is a path to success howeve

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You present a relevant opinion—that work and personal interests are equally important—and discuss both attitudes. The point that intense work can bring discipline and career progress is supported with an example, and you acknowledge stress and burnout. However, the discussion is uneven: the paragraph about leisure mainly argues that people who prioritise it may be less successful, rather than explaining the value of hobbies and leisure in their own right. The example about employees taking leave also reinforces the work-focused view, so it does not fully develop the second attitude. Your conclusion begins but is incomplete, leaving your final position and the essay’s overall response unfinished. Develop the benefits of leisure and connect each example clearly to your opinion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a recognisable introduction, body paragraphs and a concluding section, and signposts such as “On the other hand” help indicate a change of focus. However, progression is not consistently clear: the second body paragraph is introduced as the opposing attitude but largely continues the argument that prioritising work leads to success. Some linking is mechanical, particularly “This essay will examine” and “Therefore,” and the final sentence stops at “howeve,” so the conclusion does not complete the line of argument. Referencing also becomes unclear in phrases such as “the person” and “the one.” Give each body paragraph a distinct purpose, use transitions to show the relationship between ideas, and finish with a complete conclusion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “career-oriented,” “resilience,” “burnout” and “disciplined,” which helps communicate ideas about work and wellbeing. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “directly linked to success.” However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward: “foremost important,” “working passiontely,” “technology expert,” and “early offs” do not sound natural in context. Spelling errors such as “necesary” and “passiontely” also reduce accuracy. These issues do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, but more precise, natural phrasing would strengthen the response. Check spelling and learn common word partnerships, especially for describing leisure, career development and time off.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a contrast with “Although” and a relative clause in “A person who takes his work life seriously.” Meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “a person … their health” shifts between singular and plural reference, while “an employee does not take leaves and work extra time is likely” lacks a clear grammatical structure. The opening sentence also needs punctuation between its contrasting clauses, and “equally important.This essay” needs a space after the full stop. The final sentence is incomplete, which leaves the conclusion grammatically unfinished. Aim for clearer clause construction, consistent pronouns, and careful proofreading of sentence boundaries.

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