Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-24

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 work for extended hours. This leaves a very little to no time for recreational activities. While this lifestyle can lead to career advancement and financial benefits, I firmly believe that its disadvantages such as health problems and limited family time, significantly outweigh the advantages.

To begin with, the main advantage of working overtime is that it offers a financial growth. To elaborate, people who work extra hours are paid more. Hence, they are able to maintain a rich lifestyle. Moreover, working greater number of hours also helps them to prove their loyalty and dedication towards their work and company. As a result, they climb up the promotional ladder quicker than others. For example, my elder brother used to work for 10 hours a day. He was promoted to regional manager post with in 24 months whereas his teammates were still in the same position.

On the other hand, people who work long hours sacrifice on major things. The disadvantages of working extra hours are health related problems and sprained family relationships. To expound, since people who work long hours get little to no time for physical activities, they face health issues such as back pain and chronic stress. In addition to this, employees who prefer to work more than the normal working hours have a poor work life balance. They are unable to give adequate time to their families. Consequently, their relationships suffers due to lack of understand and communication. For example, many billionaires such as Elon Musk and Bill Gates have faced difficulties in maintaining a health relationship with their spouses.

To conclude, this essay has discussed the advantages of working extra hours such as frequent promotions and high income whereas also highlighted the disadvantages like health alignments and suffering relationships.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, clearly stating a position in the introduction and maintaining it throughout. The ideas are relevant, with distinct advantages and disadvantages presented. The development is generally good, using personal examples like the brother's promotion and the mention of public figures to support the arguments. However, the conclusion is somewhat brief and merely summarizes the points rather than reinforcing the position with a final thought. To reach a higher band, ensure that the supporting examples are fully integrated into the argument and that the conclusion provides a more comprehensive synthesis of the main points.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Moreover', 'On the other hand', and 'Consequently' are used effectively to guide the reader through the argument. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. While the flow is generally smooth, some transitions feel slightly mechanical. The referencing is clear, and the progression of ideas is logical throughout the text. Overall, the structure is sound and supports the development of the argument well.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning with some precision. There is an attempt to use less common items such as 'recreational activities', 'promotional ladder', and 'work-life balance'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'financial growth' instead of 'financial gain', 'health alignments' (likely meant 'ailments'), and 'lack of understand' instead of 'lack of understanding'. While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the response from reaching a higher band. Expanding the range of precise vocabulary would enhance the quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There is a good attempt at using complex sentences, such as 'While this lifestyle can lead to... I firmly believe that...'. However, there are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('their relationships suffers') and article usage ('a very little to no time'). Punctuation is generally accurate, but some minor slips occur. The majority of sentences are clear, and the errors do not cause difficulty for the reader. To improve, focus on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and consistent article usage.

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