Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-19

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)

It has become increasingly common to ask job applicants about their private lives such as hobbies, interest, and martial status while applying for a job by their potential employers. Some are in the favour of this trend as they consider that this information might be relevant and useful for the company, however other against it. In my opinion, employers should consider interest and hobbies as these abilities can be relevant to the position, and should avoid to ask about their marital status.

One main reason why some people support getting information about personal interest and hobbies is help to understand the personality of people. Sometimes, job position are based on some specific fields that require to know about people's personal hobbies that can match with particular position. This process assist recuriter to hire a perfect person for the position. For example, a person is interested in a photography, a job in media or as a photographer can be a perfcet for them. As a result, they can be more productive for the company.

However, personal information cannot determine people's ability according to opponents. During hiring process, it can be much better to know about the capabilities, relevant experience and qualification of a person. Hiring a person based on these abilities could be a better choice. If people do not have any suitable ability to perform a task at workplace, a company can experience a considerable loss.

In my opinion, asking about interest and hobbies can be beneficial for companies as they can get knowldege about the personality of individuals and they can assign tasks to them according to their interest, but getting information about marital status can be irrelevant. Sometimes, people feel uncomfortable while providing such information.

In conclusion,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both perspectives and give a clear opinion: hobbies and interests may help employers match people to roles, whereas marital status should not be requested. The photography example supports the first view, and you explain that hiring should also consider qualifications and experience. This is relevant and gives the response a clear direction. However, the opposing view is less fully developed: you state that personal information cannot determine ability, but do not explain why employers might nevertheless ask about it or give a specific example. The conclusion is also unfinished (“In conclusion,”), so the response does not provide a complete final summary. Develop the less-supported view and finish with a concise restatement of your position.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction to reasons supporting questions about hobbies, an opposing point, and your own view. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, and transitions such as “However” and “In my opinion” make the direction generally clear. Some connections are mechanical or unclear, though. For example, “Some are in the favour … however other against it” does not clearly express the contrast, and the final paragraph repeats points from the introduction without leading to a completed conclusion. The unfinished “In conclusion,” interrupts the overall progression. Use complete linking clauses, make each paragraph’s purpose distinct, and ensure the ending follows through with a final summary.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “personal information,” “capabilities,” “relevant experience,” “qualification,” and “considerable loss.” There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “assign tasks” and “productive for the company.” However, inaccurate word forms, spelling, and collocations are noticeable and sometimes make the phrasing less natural: “interest” should be plural in the list, “martial status” is a misspelling of “marital status,” and “a perfect person for the position” is not idiomatic in this context. “Recruiter” and “knowledge” are also misspelled. Build accuracy by checking spelling and choosing natural employment-related collocations, while retaining the relevant range you already demonstrate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional sentence (“If people do not have any suitable ability …”) and clauses explaining reasons. Most of the meaning remains understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “job position are” has subject–verb disagreement, while “should avoid to ask” uses an incorrect verb pattern; write “should avoid asking.” The opening sentence also has an awkward passive construction (“while applying for a job by their potential employers”), and “Sometimes, job position are based…” needs an article and plural agreement. Improve control of agreement, articles, and verb patterns, and revise long sentences so their clauses connect cleanly. More consistently accurate complex sentences would strengthen the response.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.