Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-21

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 6.0)

Nowadays, many employers ask job applicants to provide personal information such as their hobbies, interests, and marital status. While some people believe that this information is useful for the hiring process, others argue that it is unnecessary. In my opinion, employers should focus only on a candidate's professional qualifications and work experience rather than their personal life.

On the other hand, there are reasons why some people think

Personal details are helpful. A person's hobbies can reveal a lot about their personality. For instance, if an applicant plays team sports like football, it shows that they can work well with others. Second, knowing whether someone is married or single employers decide if the is the person can handel job that require travelling and working late hours. To exemplify, companies might think that a single person has fewer family responsibilities and can commit more time to the job.

On the other hand, many people argue that asking for personal information is wrong and irrelevant. The main reason is that a person's marital status or hobbies do not affect their ability to do a job well. A person can be an excellent engineer or accountant regardless of what they do in their free time. Furthermore, sharing this information can lead to unfair Inequality. For example, Many managers hesitate to hire young married women because they believe these women will take long maternity leaves. This is completely unfair to talented candidates.

In conclusion, although hobbies and marital status give a small idea about an applicant lifestyle's, I believe that this information should not be used in job interview. Employers should make their decision based strictly on skills and education or work experience to ensure a hiring process.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views on whether personal information should be requested by employers and clearly stating the writer's own opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are adequately extended and supported; for example, the writer explains how team sports indicate collaboration skills and how knowing marital status helps employers assess travel commitments. On the opposing side, the essay logically argues that hobbies do not affect job performance and highlights the issue of potential discrimination regarding maternity leave. The position is maintained clearly throughout. However, minor development limitations exist, such as a slight grammatical disruption in the second body paragraph, but all core task requirements are fulfilled well, aligning closely with a Band 7 performance level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay presents a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Information and ideas are coherent, featuring an introductory paragraph, two body paragraphs exploring contrasting viewpoints, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as 'While some people believe', 'On the other hand', and 'Furthermore'. However, there are minor mechanical errors in referencing and sentence structure, such as repeating 'On the other hand' for the second body paragraph instead of transitioning to the opposing view naturally, and a missing verb phrase in 'whether someone is married or single employers decide if the is the person can handel job'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, but cohesive control is slightly flawed, placing this response at Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating topic-specific terms such as 'professional qualifications', 'marital status', 'family responsibilities', and 'maternity leaves'. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, though these are occasionally marred by word choice or collocation errors, such as 'unfair Inequality', 'applicant lifestyle's', and the misspelling 'handel' instead of handle. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is never impeded, and the vocabulary remains sufficiently flexible to convey precise arguments about hiring practices, supporting a solid Band 6 rating.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures effectively in many instances, such as 'A person can be an engineer or accountant regardless of what they do in their free time.' There are, however, several noticeable grammatical and mechanical errors, particularly in sentence construction like 'whether someone is married or single employers decide if the is the person can handel job', missing articles in 'ensure a hiring process', and punctuation errors regarding capitalization like 'Personal details' and 'Many managers'. These errors cause some disruption, but the meaning remains clear throughout, justifying a Band 6 score.

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

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