Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-04

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 5.5)

Some people believe that personal information, such as hobbies, interests, and whether the person is married or single asked by employer to the interviewee is relevant and useful while others argue that this is not relevant. This essay will elucidate both the view points and my opinion in the upcoming paragraphs.

On the one hand, asking about hobbies, and interest will help the employer to better understand the personality of the individual. For instance, while selecting a candidate for marketing profile, it is very important to understand the personality traits of the person linked with their interests i.e., extrovert personality. However, earlier it sounds awkward to ask the marital status but interviewer get the idea that for how long a person can stay in the company. For example, a married person would prefer settlement and satisfaction over money rather than a single individual whose preference would be money at this stage.

On the other hand, asking for personal information may be irrelevant because the candidate selected for the interview will first go through the eligibility criteria and asking personal question afterward would be irrelevant. In addition to this, skills matter the most for a job profile which would be the main selection criteria of the interview. To exemplify this, sometimes the right person have all the ability and skill for the job but not in the stage to tell personal information at that situation.

In my opinion, for simple job profiles there should not be personal questions rather ask about the skill they have and they want to learn in near future. Some jobs such as in higher management jobs that require personal information should be allowed.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task, discussing both views and providing a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. The argument regarding marital status is a bit speculative and lacks depth, while the counter-argument regarding eligibility criteria is relevant but could be more robustly supported. The conclusion is a bit abrupt and could have been better integrated with the preceding arguments. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is fully extended with more specific, logical reasoning rather than relying on generalisations.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into clear paragraphs, and there is a logical progression of ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In addition to this' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the sentence 'sometimes the right person have all the ability and skill for the job but not in the stage to tell personal information'. Improving the flow between sentences and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer to their antecedents would enhance the coherence of the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'elucidate' and 'personality traits', which is positive. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'marketing profile' instead of 'marketing role' and 'not in the stage to tell' which is unnatural. The range of vocabulary is sufficient to convey meaning, but more precise and varied lexical choices would be needed for a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('interviewer get the idea', 'right person have all the ability') and awkward phrasing ('asked by employer to the interviewee'). Punctuation is mostly functional, but some sentences are slightly clunky. To improve, focus on correcting basic subject-verb agreement and refining the structure of complex sentences to ensure they are error-free and flow more naturally.

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

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