Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-08

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 6.5)

When applying for a job, candidates sometimes ask to disclose personal details such as their hobbies or whether they are married. Some argue that it is useful for employers, while others are disagreed with that. I will examine both perspectives before giving my own view.

The collection of such information argue that it helps employers assess a candidate’s sustainability beyond technical qualifications. A person’s hobbies can reveal transferable skills. For example, someone who captains a sports team would be a good at leadership, while a person with creative writing skills may brings strong communication skills to a role. Similarly, knowing whether a candidate is married can help employers anticipate around relocation or working hours, which may be relevant for jobs requiring frequent travel.

On the other hand, critics maintain that this information is largely irrelevant to job performance and risks introducing bias to their hiring process. A candidate martial status, for instance, has no connection on their ability to complete a task completely, yet it completely lead to employer for go with a single candidate for demanding roles, or unmarried applicants for positions seen as requiring stability. Moreover, such questions mainly focus on personal privacy. For instance, in many countries are legally restricted precisely because they have historically been used to discriminate against women and older candidates.

In my opinion, employers should focus primarily on skills, qualifications and relevant experience rather than personal circumstances. While hobbies can occasionally offer useful insight into a candidate’s character, marital status should play no role in hiring decision, as it has no genuine connection to a person’s ability and professionalism.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both sides of the argument and providing a clear personal opinion. The ideas are relevant and generally well-supported, such as the link between sports leadership and transferable skills. However, some points could be more fully developed; for instance, the argument regarding marital status and relocation is introduced but not explored in depth. The position is consistent throughout the essay. To reach a higher band, ensure that all arguments are fully extended with specific, logical reasoning rather than relying on brief assertions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the two viewpoints. Cohesive devices such as 'Similarly', 'On the other hand', and 'Moreover' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, there are some instances where the flow is slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as in the sentence 'The collection of such information argue that it helps...', where the subject-verb agreement error disrupts the logical flow. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with some precision, using terms like 'transferable skills', 'anticipate', and 'discriminate'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'a candidate martial status' (should be 'marital status') and 'for go with a single candidate' (should be 'to opt for a single candidate'). These errors do not impede communication, but they indicate a need for more careful attention to word forms and collocations to reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the attempt at complex structures is evident, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('The collection... argue', 'a person... may brings') and prepositional usage ('anticipate around relocation', 'connection on their ability'). Punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence structure in the third paragraph is somewhat convoluted. The errors are noticeable and occasionally distract the reader, though they do not prevent the meaning from being understood. More focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy is recommended.

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