Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-01

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

It is important for children, young adults, working people and the retired to have at least one hobby.

What's your opinion about this?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

In today's fast-paced world, people do not have much leisure time to have a hobby, Many people believe that it is very important for mental relaxation to pursue a hobby; others, however, dispute this notion. This essay will contend that having a pastime is essential for the peace of mind, so children, young adults, working people, and the retired ones should have at least one hobby.

Opponents assert that hobbies are distractions and purely a waste of time. Sometimes, people get so much indulged in their pastimes that they forget to give due time to their relationships and professional tasks. To illustrate, nowadays younger generation and even adults have a hobby of scrolling through Instagram for hours. This mindless activity is just a waste of time with no potential benefit. While ceratin hobbies are unproductive, spending some leisure time on it does not harm.

I firmly believe that it is essential for children and working people to have atleast one pastime. This allows the brain to unwind from rigorous work schedules and helps in the nourishment of soul. For instance, many people love to play sports in their pastimes, this helps them to forget about the work-related stresses and enables them to perform better at work. Secondly, when people retire, they tend to feel lonely and unproductive. Having a hobby allows them to distract their minds from these pessimistic thoughts. So, it is important that every individual should spare some time to pursue their hobby irrespective of their age.

In conclusion, I reaffirm my conviction that all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. So adopting a hobby that helps you relax physically and mentally is important to enhance your productivity and mental peace.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing whether individuals across different life stages—children, young adults, working people, and the retired—should have a hobby. A clear position is maintained throughout the essay. However, certain parts are more fully developed than others, which is characteristic of this performance level. For instance, the discussion on working people and the retired in the third paragraph is well-supported with ideas regarding mental relaxation and combating loneliness. In contrast, the counter-argument regarding opponents in the second paragraph is somewhat generalized and relies on a single example of scrolling through Instagram. To reach a higher level, all supporting arguments would need to be equally extended and explored with deeper insight.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear progression of ideas from the introduction through the body paragraphs to a fitting conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct arguments, such as the counter-perspective and the writer's personal viewpoint. Cohesive devices are employed to link sentences and paragraphs, though some referencing and transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, such as the use of 'Secondly' and 'In conclusion'. Furthermore, the phrasing 'spending some leisure time on it' contains a slight pronoun reference issue since 'it' is singular while referring back to plural hobbies. To achieve a higher standard, cohesion could be made more flexible and natural without relying on standard formulas.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'fast-paced world', 'pessimistic thoughts', and 'all work and no play makes jack a dull boy'. There are, however, some noticeable spelling and word choice errors, such as 'ceratin' instead of certain, and the collocation 'much indulged in their pastimes' instead of heavily or deeply indulged. Additionally, 'atleast' is written as a single word. These lexical slips do not impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the argument easily, but they prevent the writing from achieving a more precise and sophisticated lexical standard.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over structures such as conditional and concessive clauses, as seen in 'While certain hobbies are unproductive, spending some leisure time on it does not harm.' There are some grammar and punctuation errors present throughout the text, including a comma splice in the opening sentence ('...have a hobby, Many people...') and a run-on sentence in the third paragraph ('...play sports in their pastimes, this helps them...'). Minor preposition and article slips also occur. Nevertheless, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede communication, allowing the complex sentences to remain clear.

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