Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-20

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 7.5)

Some employer ask job applicants about their hobbies and marital status. While a few people regard this information as useful, other consider it irrelevant. This essay will discuss both views before explaining why I side with the latter.

Those in favor argue that hobbies can reveal an applicant's personality and transferable skills. A candidate who captains a football team, for instance, is likely to have leadership and teamwork abilities, which are qualities that a CV alone may not demonstrate. Likewise, some employer believe that married people are more stable and committed, so they are less likely to leave a job abruptly.

However, I firmly believe that questions about marital status are inappropriate and that hobbies should be of minor importane. Firstly, a person's relationship status says nothing about their competence, and had employers relied on it, capable candidate would be unfairly rejected. A married women, for example, might be overlooked on assumption that she will soon take maternity leave. Such discrimination is illegal in many countries. Secondly, although hobbies can occasionally be informative, they are no substiture for qualifications, experience and performance in interviews, which are far more reliable indicators of suitability.

In conclusion, while hobbies may offer a small insight into an applicant's character, marital status is irrelevant to job performance. Employers hould therefore base decisions on skills and experience alone.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address both perspectives and state your position clearly: you explain why hobbies may reveal transferable skills and why marital status should not influence hiring, then conclude that employers should focus on skills and experience. The examples of a team captain and a woman potentially being overlooked for maternity leave make the discussion relevant and support your view. However, the response contains 222 words, so it does not meet the required minimum of 250. This limits the opportunity to develop the ideas fully. In particular, the claim that married people are considered more stable is only briefly presented, and your own position could be supported with a further explanation or example. Add relevant development while keeping the argument focused.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 8.0

The essay is easy to follow, with a clear introduction, separate paragraphs for the opposing view and your position, and a concise conclusion. The progression from the possible value of hobbies and marital status to the risks of relying on personal information is logical. Cohesive signals such as “Likewise,” “However,” “Firstly,” and “Secondly” help readers track the argument, while “This essay will discuss both views” establishes the structure. Paragraphing is appropriate and each paragraph has a clear purpose. To make the organisation even more polished, develop the links between claims and examples a little further, rather than moving quickly from a general point to a brief illustration. Overall, cohesion is well managed and the structure supports the discussion effectively.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.0

You use a suitable range of vocabulary for the topic, including “transferable skills,” “competence,” “discrimination,” and “indicators of suitability.” These choices allow you to express the distinction between personal characteristics and job-related evidence with reasonable precision. There are, however, a few spelling and word-choice slips that reduce accuracy: “importane,” “substiture,” and “hould” should be corrected, and “minor importance” would be more natural as “of limited relevance” in this context. Some phrasing, such as “a few people regard,” is understandable but less idiomatic than “some people consider.” Continue using precise topic vocabulary, while proofreading spelling and checking that collocations sound natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.0

You demonstrate a useful variety of sentence forms, including a complex conditional construction (“had employers relied on it, capable candidate would be unfairly rejected”) and subordinate clauses introduced by “although” and “which.” Many sentences are controlled and easy to understand. A few grammatical errors remain, particularly with agreement and articles: “Some employer ask” should be “Some employers ask,” “other consider” should be “others consider,” and “capable candidate” needs an article or plural form. “A married women” also has a singular–plural mismatch, and “on assumption” needs an article (“on the assumption”). These errors do not prevent understanding, but careful editing of agreement and article use would improve accuracy while preserving your range of complex structures.

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