It is often said that we should work to live, not live to work. Discuss both points of view and give your own opinion.
Sample Response
I think that the answer is obvious when the question is phrased this wayif the question is stated this way. Of course, we do not live to work. However, there are other aspectssides of the balance between work and life that are not so simple. As a result, those who definedefined their work as the main part of their life can have a much happier life than those who try to prioritise life over workput their life first.
One reason is that a large part of lifethe great part of the life is spent working anywayconsists of work anyway. We are awake about 16 hours per day, and from 8 to 10 of them, including commuting time, we spend on our work. Even those who adopted the ‘work to live’ philosophyselected the ‘work to live’ conception must still spend this time workingmust do that. Therefore, work constitutes more than half of our life, and it is a good ideait will be a good idea to enjoy your worklike the work because then you will not spend this portionhalf of your life waiting until it is over.
Secondly, there are different jobs, and in every business there are different positions. Some of those positions are less engaging and demand more timeare boring and take more time, but some of them are more interesting and allow a great deal of freedom for the people holding themfor the person in charge. The latterformer more often go to the people who approachtake their jobs very seriously, and eventually they have more freedom, more time and more opportunitiespossibilities in their lives.
To sum up, stating that we should work to live, you can lose too many things: time, freedom and money that give you possibilities. Therefore, it is better to look for an interesting job and make it a more enjoyable part of lifemore enjoyable part of the life.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response presents a clear personal view and develops a coherent argument that satisfying work can improve life because employment occupies substantial time. However, the opposing view is barely explored, and one paragraph contains confusing references that weaken its logic. The highest priority is to give a distinct, developed case for working primarily to support life before weighing both perspectives and reaffirming the conclusion.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
A clear opinion is maintained and supported, but the requirement to discuss both views is only partly met because the work-to-live perspective receives very little development.
Devote one body paragraph to the benefits and reasoning behind working to support life, then compare that case directly with the preferred view.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay is organised into purposeful paragraphs and generally progresses clearly, though the reference to different positions in the third paragraph becomes logically confusing.
Make pronoun and comparative references explicit so the reader can immediately identify which jobs or workers each claim describes.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is sufficiently varied for the topic, but several word combinations and repeated terms such as life, work, and possibilities reduce precision and naturalness.
Use more idiomatic collocations for career choice, job satisfaction, financial security, and work-life balance while avoiding unnecessary repetition.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mixture of simple and complex sentences conveys the argument clearly, although article use, tense choice, clause construction, and occasional dangling structures remain inconsistent.
Proofread complex sentences for consistent tense, accurate articles, and clear clause subjects, especially in the introduction and conclusion.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS Writing Task 2
It is often said that we should work to live, not live to work. Discuss both points of view and give your own opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.