Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-11

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 7.0)

In recent years, working after hours and getting very little time for entertainment has become increasingly common. Although this development offers several advantages, such as extra income and career growth, it also presents certain disadvantages, like stress and burnout and fewer personal bonds.

One of the main advantages of working long hours is that individuals can generate more income. This is because working after shift hours could help in earning overtime, which could be beneficial for someone experiencing financial instability. For example, a person working 8 hours a day would get less money as compared to the person working 12 hours a day. Moreover, working long hours could help you get noticed by your employer, which will increase your chances of promotion or a raise in salary. As a result, working long shifts could boost the income of an individual and their chances of growing within an organisation.

Despite these benefits, after-hours work also has some drawbacks. The most significant disadvantage is that it increases stress. This is because working long hours could result in less time for workers to go out and enjoy themselves to get relaxed. For instance, studies show that people owning businesses suffer from anxiety and stress compared to the employees working fixed shift hours. Furthermore, this gives little time for individuals to socially interact with their friends and family members, causing weakening of bonds. Consequently, less time for leisure activities means bad health, mental pressure and less interaction.

In conclusion, although working long hours has both advantages and disadvantages, I believe that its drawbacks outweigh its benefits because of poor physical and mental health and less time for family members.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the task and maintains a clear position throughout. You have identified both advantages and disadvantages and provided a clear conclusion that the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. The ideas are relevant and generally well-supported, such as the mention of overtime pay and career progression as benefits, and stress and social isolation as drawbacks. To reach a higher band, you could further extend your examples; for instance, instead of a general statement about 'people owning businesses', you could provide a more specific scenario or a more nuanced explanation of how long hours impact long-term career sustainability versus immediate financial gain.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central topic, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. You make good use of cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Despite these benefits', and 'Consequently' to link your points. However, the flow could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that the transition between sentences is smoother. At times, the connection between sentences feels slightly mechanical, which is characteristic of the Band 6-7 range. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate and contributes to the clarity of your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'financial instability', 'organisation', and 'socially interact' effectively. There is some attempt to use less common vocabulary, though some phrasing is slightly repetitive or basic, such as 'working long hours' and 'get relaxed'. To improve, try to incorporate more precise collocations and topic-specific vocabulary related to work-life balance and psychological well-being. While your word choice is generally accurate and does not impede communication, increasing the sophistication of your lexical choices would help you move into the higher band range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. Most of your sentences are clear and grammatically sound. There are some minor errors, such as 'as compared to the person' (which should be 'compared to a person') and 'causing weakening of bonds' (which would be better as 'causing a weakening of bonds'). These errors are infrequent and do not cause difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher score, aim to incorporate a wider variety of complex grammatical structures, such as conditional sentences or more sophisticated relative clauses, while maintaining your current level of accuracy.

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

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