Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-01

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 5.5)

It is important for everyone to have at least one hobby.

Hobbies makes people feel mentally and physically fit.

Why it is important for children to have at least one hobby because it makes them happy and if they are passionate about something they will put their full efforts in it.

For example my daughter's hobby is drawing and sketching. She loves it. whenever she's on a road trip she make sure that she has all the stuff needed for her drawings and sketching. whenever she's upset she starts drawing and it makes her feel secure and it calms down her nervous system.

It is important for working people to have at least one hobby because it helps them to regulate their nervous system. They need a stress free time, After their working hard they need a break or a nice getaway activity to relax themsleve.

My husband has a hobby - he loves playing football. He is kind of crazy about football. So he goes to play twice a week it makes him happy and fresh. Even though sometimes when he comes back home from his work he feels tired and drained but as soon as the time comes for football he gets energetic and gets ready and leaves for football. By watching him being so passionate about his hobby my kids gets happy as well.

It is important to have a hobby for retired people because they are use to of working and staying busy but when they get retired sometimes by staying at home or not doing anything makes them mentally and physically sick. So it's really good to have at least one hobby which makes them feel happy and refresh.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the opening: you agree that everyone should have a hobby, and you give relevant reasons and examples for children, working adults and retired people. The personal examples about your daughter’s drawing and your husband’s football make the discussion engaging and support your view. The response addresses the groups named in the prompt, but some are developed more fully than others: the children and working-people sections include specific examples, while the point about retired people is brief and general. Young adults are not discussed separately. To strengthen the response, explain how hobbies benefit young adults and extend the retired-people point with a concrete example or fuller reasoning.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a generally understandable structure, moving from an opening opinion to examples about children, working people and retired people. Paragraphs mostly keep related ideas together, and phrases such as “For example” and “So” help show connections. However, the repeated opening pattern “It is important… to have at least one hobby” makes the progression feel mechanical, and some links between ideas are abrupt. For instance, the final sentence about the children’s reaction to their father’s football hobby is added without much explanation. Use a wider range of linking expressions and clearer topic sentences, and connect each example explicitly to the benefit being discussed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including relevant terms such as “passionate,” “stress free,” “drained” and “energetic.” These choices help convey feelings and the effects of hobbies. However, the range is somewhat repetitive, particularly with repeated uses of “important,” “hobby,” “happy” and “makes them feel.” Some expressions are also imprecise or unnatural, such as “regulate their nervous system” and “a nice getaway activity,” while spelling and word-form slips such as “themsleve” and “refresh” reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise collocations and varied wording—for example, describe hobbies as helping people “manage stress” or “unwind,” rather than repeating general claims about feeling happy.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including conditional clauses such as “if they are passionate about something” and a contrast beginning “Even though sometimes…”. The main meaning is usually clear, but some errors in agreement, verb forms, articles and punctuation remain. Examples include “Hobbies makes” instead of “Hobbies make,” “she make sure” instead of “she makes sure,” and “my kids gets happy” instead of “my kids get happy.” The sentence beginning “Why it is important…” is also not formed as a complete, natural statement. Review subject–verb agreement and sentence boundaries, and use a mix of accurate complex structures rather than joining several ideas with commas.

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

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