Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Many people work long hours, leaving very little time for leisure activities.

Does this situation have more advantages or more disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 6.5)

It is certainly difficult for many people to have a work-life balance. Many people have long working days, as a result of that they left with very little or no spare to engage in leisure activities. Such circumstances may seem to be fruitful for sometimes, however it likely to have detrimental effects on a long run.

On the one hand, there are several advantages of working long hours. In this competitive world it is essential to have profound skills and one must be able to deliver desired results. Owing to hectic work schedules and strict deadlines many prefer to work for longer time than usual. Consequently , employees can learn at fast pace and can meet the deadline on time which allow them to secure a promotion or a salary hike.

On the other hand there are many drawbacks of working all the time. Engaging into leisure activities such as playing a sport, travelling to a holiday destination or spending quality time with friends, family and children is not only beneficial to an individual's mental well being but also essential for maintaining healthy relationship. People who do not spare time to spend with their family or friend and occupied themselves with never ending work often experience anxiety and loneliness. In addition to that, hobbies play a significant role to detach an individual from their routine life and to focus on themselves.

In my opinion, it is important to have a successful career, however, life that lacks work- life balance and in which individuals are unable to find time for themselves can make them feel isolated burned out in future.

In conclusion, although working hard has its own advantages, I believe having no time to do things that one truly enjoy can have negative impact on an individual's health and social life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all parts of the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of working long hours and providing a clear personal opinion. Your position is consistent throughout the essay. The ideas are relevant, such as the mention of career progression as an advantage and mental health/social isolation as disadvantages. However, the development of these points is somewhat basic. To reach a higher band, you should aim to provide more specific, illustrative examples rather than general statements. For instance, instead of just mentioning 'travelling', you could explain how a lack of time prevents the long-term planning required for such activities, thereby deepening the analysis.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', 'Consequently', and 'In addition to that' to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with sentence-level cohesion, such as the run-on sentence in the introduction: 'Many people have long working days, as a result of that they left with very little...'. Improving the flow between sentences would enhance the overall coherence. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different sides of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'detrimental effects', 'hectic work schedules', and 'isolated'. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'fruitful for sometimes' (should be 'fruitful at times') and 'occupied themselves with never ending work' (should be 'occupy themselves'). You also have a minor error in 'burned out in future' (should be 'burn out in the future'). While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, it lacks the sophistication and precision required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this level. However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. For example, 'they left with very little' should be 'they are left with very little', and 'it likely to have' should be 'it is likely to have'. Additionally, there are punctuation errors, such as the space before the comma in 'Consequently ,'. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and consistent verb tense usage would be beneficial.

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

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