Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-17

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 new job, employees sometimes have to provide personal information, such as their interests and hobbies, and whether they are single or married. Many people consider this information rather irrelevant and unsuitable. Let us analyse both perspectives in the subsequent paragraphs with some relevant examples.

To begin with, this section sheds light on the favourable consequences and advantages associated with personal questions about employees. Getting to know about employee’s interests and hobbies not only reflects an individual’s personality, but also discloses his/her strengths and weaknesses. Similarly, asking a person if he/she is single or married helps boss to assign tasks according to a person’s status. For example, a married person understands the sense of responsibility and team work. On the other hand, a single individual reflects independence, enthusiasm and creative nature.

On the contrary, this paragraph focuses on negative repercussions and drawbacks concerning personal queries when applying for a job. Asking private questions about someone’s life creates negative impression about a company or a job, and employees might feel uncomfortable where they are primarily judged over their interests and marital status rather than their strengths and skills. To exemplify, in India, when people apply for new jobs, they often have to provide details about their private life. As a result, many people feel constrained in such working environment, and they cannot perform with their real strengths.

In my opinion, asking such intimate questions at workplace do not define a person’s true abilities. Rather than making employees uncomfortable by asking intimate questions, they should be asked about their valuable traits and abilities, and how to adopt them in various circumstances.

To encapsulate, I personally believe that an employer should give the opportunity to employee his/her full potential according to their excellence and talents, so that they can gain experience, valuable experience rather than assuming their importance based on their private life.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views—that personal information is relevant and useful, and that it is unnecessary or intrusive—while clearly stating the writer's own opinion. In the second paragraph, the writer explains how hobbies and marital status help employers assign tasks, offering reasons such as teamwork for married individuals and creativity for single people. The third paragraph outlines the negative repercussions, supported by an example from India. The position is maintained throughout the essay. However, some ideas, particularly in the conclusion and personal opinion, tend to be repetitive rather than fully extended, which places this response comfortably in Band 6.5 to 7.0. Overall, the task requirements are fulfilled effectively with relevant examples and a clear line of argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus: introduction, arguments supporting the usefulness of personal information, arguments against it, personal opinion, and conclusion. Transitional phrases such as 'To begin with', 'On the contrary', and 'To encapsulate' are used to guide the reader through the text. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. While cohesive devices are generally handled well, some referencing is slightly mechanical, such as 'this section sheds light on' and 'this paragraph focuses on', which are slightly meta-linguistic for an essay. Nevertheless, the overall arrangement is coherent and easy to follow, satisfying the criteria for a Band 7.0 performance.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'favourable consequences', 'negative repercussions', and 'marital status'. There are, however, occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'helps boss to assign tasks' (should be 'helps bosses' or 'helps employers'), 'intimate questions' (where 'personal' or 'private' would be more natural in a professional context), and 'working environment' (missing an article: 'a working environment'). Despite these slips, meaning is never obscured, and the range is sufficient to allow flexibility and precision in places. This corresponds well to a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional or relative clauses like 'when people apply for new jobs, they often have to provide details'. There are some grammatical errors and awkward phrasings present, such as 'asking such intimate questions at workplace do not define' (subject-verb agreement error with 'questions... do', and missing article 'at the workplace'), and 'an employer should give the opportunity to employee his/her full potential' (awkward phrasing and grammatical mismatch). Punctuation is generally sound, and sentences are mostly readable despite these occasional errors, which rarely impede communication. This reflects a solid Band 6.0 performance.

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