Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-11-03

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)

Both the work and leisure interets have significant values in life.One aspect can not decrease the value of other in any way.To live a balanced life people should learn to have time for both or other wise the essence of life would be gone.

The peolple who put their work priority and revolve around it have made the work their whole personality which is build over the years.For them the work comes first and foremost and is important to complete and have little to zero interest in hobbies and leisure. They consider the hobbies or me time as the waste of potential time period which could be utilized for even more work.Others type of people boring and call even call them as dry personalities For example workholic people do not have any interesting topics or activies to talk about and most of the time they end up talking about their work and even would do work in holidays to keep themselves busy. People also consider workholics boring and serious.

On the other hand some people are more inclined towords their hobbies and leisure time and activies and they do not consider their job as important as others do. The consider that having hobbies that excites their life and add colors to it is far better than some boring work.They take their leisure interts and activities very seriously and even take off from their jobs to do them.They are very passionate about their enjoyment and work is the last thing on their mind they worry about.

For example these type of people would go to mountains and beaches as soon as they found some holidays comming up or will do other activies to keep themselves engaged worring less about life and work.

To summerize i would say that it is important to maintain work-life balance in order to spend a better life. Too much of work would not bring some thing special in life and spending most of the time on hobbies and leisure activies would not get their work done.Maintaing the balance and giving equal importance to both would make a better life if not perfect.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both attitudes: people who make work central and those who prioritise hobbies, and your conclusion gives a clear preference for balance. Examples such as work-focused people working during holidays and leisure-focused people travelling to mountains or beaches help illustrate the contrast. However, the discussion is only partly developed. The first view is described mainly through generalisations about people being “boring” or having “dry personalities,” rather than explaining why someone might value work, such as purpose, achievement or financial security. The benefits and possible drawbacks of prioritising leisure also need more explanation. Develop each side with a reason and a specific consequence, then make your own position explicit earlier and support it consistently.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, one paragraph for each attitude, and a conclusion. “On the other hand” clearly signals the shift between the two views, and the final paragraph returns to your central idea of balance. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes weak: several sentences repeat that work-focused people have little interest in hobbies, while the leisure paragraph similarly repeats their enthusiasm for activities. Some links are awkward or unclear, including “Others type of people boring” and “For example these type of people,” which make the relationship between claims and examples harder to follow. Organise each body paragraph around a main reason, explain it, and then give a relevant example. Use referencing and linking phrases more precisely to avoid repetition.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “work-life balance,” “passionate,” “potential,” and “leisure time,” and these choices help communicate the main contrast. There are also attempts at more expressive language, such as “add colors to it.” However, spelling errors and inaccurate word choices are noticeable throughout, for example “interets,” “activies,” “workholic,” and “comming.” Some phrases are also unnatural or imprecise, such as “the essence of life would be gone” and “spending most of the time on hobbies … would not get their work done.” Aim for accurate spelling and more natural collocations, and choose neutral language rather than repeatedly labelling people “boring.” This would make your ideas clearer and more appropriate for an academic essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including “To live a balanced life people should learn to have time for both” and sentences beginning with “For example.” The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but errors are frequent and sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to follow. Examples include “One aspect can not decrease the value of other,” “The consider that,” and “these type of people would go,” where articles, pronouns and agreement are not controlled. Sentence boundaries and punctuation also need attention: “Others type of people boring and call even call them as dry personalities” is incomplete and difficult to parse. Practise building accurate subject–verb–object sentences first, then add subordinate clauses. Check articles, plural forms, agreement and punctuation during revision.

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