Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-18

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)

A growing number of people spend long working hours in the office in order to accomplish their projects or meet their deadlines and have very less time for creative tasks. I think this trend has more disadvantages as compare to benefits. As spending more time for professional works allows them to achieve success and get promotion over time, whereas it caused health issues and weaken their bonding with their family.

On the beneficial side, a number of employees contribute their major time behind their office works, which offers them chance to complete their tasks within short time and achieve excellent workers award for their best performance for the progress of the company. Apart from that, it will allows workers to develop professional skills like good communication, cooperation, critical-thinking and teamwork for their better success and development of corporal personality. Therefore, workaholic nature encourages them to accomplish their goals and meet their targets for their overall growth and higher promotion opportunities.

However, overtime has a plenty of negative effects on person. Firstly, too much focus on work discourage them to spend less time with their family, which weaken their relationship day by day. Moreover, they are unable to take proper meal and sleep due to workload, which address health issues like ,insomnia, stress, anxiety, high blood pressure and heart attack. Apart from that, they experience isolated during social gathering and family functions, which makes them less social and introvert. Therefore, balanced between work and life needed in order to maintain the good and healthy relation with family and stay focus on their work effectively. Because, long working hours drain their energy and concentration and overtime it reduce their productivity. Hence, leisure activities play a pivotal role for improving their mind-body coordination, mental peace, refreshment and getting energy for the following tasks.

In conclusion, long working time has a major contribution for workers' professional growth and build strong professional reputation. However, it address health problems, increase the relationship distance between family and feel fatigue and depressed due to unable to follow normal routine.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task and maintains a clear position throughout, arguing that the disadvantages of long working hours outweigh the advantages. The ideas are relevant and generally well-supported with examples such as health issues (insomnia, stress) and the impact on family relationships. However, some points are slightly repetitive, and the development could be more nuanced. For instance, the discussion on 'professional growth' is a bit generic. To reach a higher band, ensure that each supporting point is fully explored with more specific, logical links to the prompt's core question regarding the balance between work and leisure.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. The progression of ideas is generally easy to follow. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Apart from that', 'However', and 'In conclusion', though some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive. Referencing is generally clear, although there are minor issues with pronoun usage and sentence flow. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the overall structure effectively guides the reader through the argument. To improve, try to vary the cohesive devices to create a more natural flow between sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common items, such as 'pivotal role' and 'workaholic nature'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'corporal personality' (likely meaning professional persona), 'address health issues' (should be 'cause' or 'lead to'), and 'experience isolated' (should be 'feel isolated'). These errors do not impede communication but indicate a need for more precise usage of academic vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('it will allows', 'it address health problems'), article usage, and word forms ('as compare to', 'balanced between work and life needed'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, such as the unnecessary comma before 'insomnia'. While the writer attempts complex structures, the frequency of these errors prevents the response from reaching a higher band. Focusing on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy would significantly improve the score.

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

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