Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-07-31

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Employers sometimes ask people applying for jobs for personal information, such as their hobbies and interests, and whether they are married or single. Some people say that this information may be relevant and useful. Others disagree.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

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

 

Student answer (Band 7.5)

Nowadays, many companies ask job candidates to share personal details during hiring process, including marital status and interests. Some people believe this information helps employers choose the right candidates, While others argue that this is completely irrelevant. In my opinion, personal details should not play a role in recruitment decisions, as only professional skills matter.

On the one hand, supporters of asking for personal details believe it gives a full picture of applicants character. Firstly, hobbies can show whether a person has soft skills that suit the culture of company. For instance, an applicant who play team sports may be better at collaborating with colleague. Secondly, knowing a person martial status might help employers to understand their overall availability and lifestyle, which can be useful when assigning roles that require frequent travel or working late hours.

On the other hand, many people argue that personal details are unnecessary and can cause unfair judgment. Hiring managers might favor candidates who shares their interests or discriminate against candidate based on their family status. For example, a young married woman might be passed over for a job because an employer assumes she will take maternity leave soon. Furthermore, an applicant private hobbies have very little connection to their ability to perform technical tasks like accounting or computer programming.

In conclusion, although learning about an applicants personal life may help employers understand their personality, I believe it introduces unnecessary bias into hiring process. Recruitment should strictly focus on an individual qualifications, work, experience, and relevant skills.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

You have addressed all parts of the prompt, providing arguments for both sides and a clear personal opinion. The ideas are relevant and logically developed. For example, you discuss the potential benefits of knowing hobbies for team culture and the risks of bias regarding marital status. The position is consistent throughout the essay. To reach a higher band, ensure that your supporting examples are slightly more detailed; for instance, when mentioning 'team sports', you could briefly explain how this specifically translates to workplace collaboration to further strengthen the argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The essay is well-organized with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central topic, and you use transition signals such as 'On the one hand', 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'Furthermore' to guide the reader. The progression of ideas is logical. To improve, ensure that referencing is always precise; for example, in the phrase 'an applicant who play team sports', the pronoun 'who' refers to the applicant, but the verb agreement needs to be consistent. Overall, the paragraphing is effective and supports the flow of your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with some precision. Phrases like 'recruitment decisions', 'unfair judgment', and 'technical tasks' are used appropriately. There are some minor errors in word form, such as 'applicants character' (should be 'applicant's') and 'martial status' (should be 'marital status'). While these do not impede communication, correcting these small slips and incorporating more sophisticated collocations or topic-specific synonyms would elevate your score. You have a good foundation, but try to vary your word choices further to show greater flexibility.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures effectively. There are some recurring grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and articles, such as 'an applicant who play' (should be 'plays'), 'culture of company' (should be 'the company'), and 'an applicant private hobbies' (should be 'an applicant's'). Despite these errors, your meaning is always clear, and the punctuation is generally accurate. To improve, focus on proofreading for small grammatical markers like possessive apostrophes and articles, which will help you achieve a higher level of accuracy in your complex sentences.

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