Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-21

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)

Nowadays, people are spending more time in their workplaces. It is considered that most individuals work long hours, leaving very little time for leisure activities. I believe this situation has more disadvantages than advantages.

To begin with merits, the first and foremost is that people can earn and save more money. To explicate it, if masses spend more time at the workplace and work for long hours instead of doing leisure activities, they can earn money that will be helpful to secure their future. Therefore, working for long hours can be beneficial rather than spending time for leisure activities.

Shifting towards demerits, the predominant demerit is that people have to face health problems. To demonstrate it, if masses work for long hours and do not spend more time for leisure activities, such as exercise, walks, and games. They have to face health issues like depression, anxiety, and other. For instance, a survey is conducted by the oxford university that 60% of people are facing problem of depression all over the world who spend their more time at the workplace. Thus, leisure activities are important for physical and mental health.

Furthermore, the other demerit is that individuals cannot learn new skills. To illustrate it, individuals who spend more time working for long hours, leaving very less time for leisure activities they are just stuck in their daily routine and doing the same thing everyday. Due to this, they cannot learn new things. For example,

A BBC news channel takes interviews in the UK; they have collected data from individuals and get to know that almost 20% of individuals are following the same routine. As a result, masses do not have time for leisure activities and to learn something new.

In conclusion, If individuals work for long hours, instead of spending time for leisure activities, they can earn and save money for the future, yet it can also impact their mental and physical health, and they are unable to learn new skills.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. The ideas are relevant, though the development is somewhat repetitive. For instance, the argument regarding health is supported by a specific example, but the explanation of why leisure is important remains quite general. The conclusion effectively summarizes the main points, though it could have been more evaluative. To reach a higher band, ensure that the supporting ideas are more distinct and provide more depth rather than simply restating the prompt's premise in different words.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Shifting towards', and 'Furthermore' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'masses' and 'individuals'. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but the link between the examples and the main arguments could be smoother. Improving the variety of cohesive devices and ensuring they are used more naturally would enhance the overall flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to convey their meaning clearly. There is an attempt to use less common vocabulary, such as 'explicate' and 'predominant', though these are sometimes used slightly unnaturally. There are also some minor word-choice errors, such as 'leaving very less time' instead of 'very little time' and 'a survey is conducted' instead of 'a survey was conducted'. To improve, focus on more precise collocations and avoid repeating the same phrases like 'leisure activities' and 'long hours' throughout the text.

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, such as 'a survey is conducted by the oxford university that 60% of people are facing problem of depression' and 'leaving very less time... they are just stuck'. Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some issues with sentence fragments and comma usage. To achieve a higher score, the writer should aim for greater accuracy in complex structures and ensure subject-verb agreement and article usage are more consistent.

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

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