Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

In the last few decades there has been a significant shift towards a work life balance. People's are spending huge amount of time on work not leaving enough hours for leisure activities. This occurrence has been creating negative impact on psychological and physical health. This essay will explain the major reasons of this development with possible drawbacks on

Primarily there are two main reasons why people are working longer hours. Firstly, the price of goods and services are really expensive and normal populace could not afford the basic human needs which leads them to working extended hours. Secondly, the capitalist society making a public to work longer hours to run the business. There is a huge demand of manpower to run the business and industries. They are not hiring new employees to run smoother they are just allowing current employees for heavy overtime.

One of the major drawbacks of extended working hours is socio-psychological wellbeing. Workers are spending large proportion of there time on workplace and they don't have time to spend with their families and do any recreational activities which keeps them fresh and active. As a result, they might suffer a mental illness and feels the social pressure of isolation. Similarly, working long hours drains human body which leads fatigue, pain and degrade the overall physical health. For example, Healthcare workers on Canada forced to work long hours shift up to 16 hours because of the shortage of nurses and doctors. As a consequences they are suffering serious psychological illness, fatigue and tired.

In conclusion, inflation and capitalism making a people work long hours shifts without leaving time for family and entertainment. Thus, people are dealing with serious physical and psychological health disorder.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the reasons for long working hours and the subsequent drawbacks. However, the task asks whether the situation has more advantages or disadvantages. You have focused almost exclusively on the disadvantages without acknowledging or weighing the potential advantages (such as economic stability or career advancement). This makes your position one-sided. While the ideas are relevant, they are somewhat under-developed, particularly the explanation of 'capitalist society'. To reach a higher band, ensure you address all parts of the prompt, including the comparative element, and provide more balanced, nuanced arguments.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use some cohesive devices like 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'In conclusion' to signal the progression of ideas. However, the flow is occasionally interrupted by mechanical errors and awkward phrasing, such as the incomplete sentence at the end of the introduction. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the transition between the causes and the effects could be smoother. To improve, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensure that each paragraph has a clear, unified topic sentence that connects back to the main argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'socio-psychological wellbeing', 'recreational activities', and 'inflation'. However, there are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'making a public to work' instead of 'compelling the public to work' and 'degrade the overall physical health' instead of 'deteriorate'. Some errors, like 'there' instead of 'their', are distracting. While your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning, you need to work on more precise collocations and ensure that your word choices are grammatically and contextually accurate to move into the higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'price of goods... are', 'people... is making'), article usage (e.g., 'on Canada'), and pluralization (e.g., 'a people'). The sentence structure is often repetitive, and some sentences are grammatically incomplete or awkward. To improve, focus on mastering basic subject-verb agreement and proofreading for common errors like missing articles or incorrect verb forms. Increasing the variety of complex structures while maintaining accuracy will help you achieve a higher score.

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

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