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)

Working long hours has become a common practice where people work overtime at workplaces to meet the deadlines. Due to busy schedule people are left with few time to perform other relaxing activities. While, overtime leads to several merits but there are many demerits as well which are explained below with relevant examples.

On the one hand, working long hours helps to increase productivity of an individual. People has to work for long durations to complete task on time if they need promotion and financial stability. This would help an individual to manage time properly so that all the work are finished before the deadlines. For instance, a person who is working for long hours would get enough experience to tackle the daunting situations. Moreover, people who work with full dedication at workplace helps to fulfill an organizational easily. The employees would be benefited as well if all the targets of company are achieved properly such as by getting bonus and increment in salary.

Despite the advantages, there are also several disadvantages to working long hours. Firstly, it may lead to low performance. People get fatigue and frustrate by following the same routine everyday. This make them feel anxious and distracted from their work which leads to slow performance and they also start making many errors. In addition to this, it would also affects relationship with family and friends. If an individual do not spend quality time with their family it would weaken the emotional bond between them. This would result in many heated arguments and separations in family. Furthermore, the person may also suffer from numerous physical issues such as neck pain, low vision problem and obesity problem. Working for long hours without taking any breaks for relaxing would effect a person's health.

To conclude, there are more problems for working long hours. I believe that, people should proritize relaxing activities with the balanced work at workplaces. They should take breaks at relax on weekends to increase performance and for good mental wellbeing.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task, providing a clear position that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed, particularly the discussion on health and family relationships. However, the development of the 'advantages' section is slightly less nuanced; for instance, the claim that long hours help an individual 'manage time properly' is a bit contradictory to the premise of being overworked. To reach a higher band, ensure that the supporting arguments are more logically consistent and avoid over-generalising the benefits of overtime. Overall, the response is well-structured and directly answers the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organised into clear paragraphs, with a discernible progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Despite the advantages', and 'To conclude' are used effectively to guide the reader. However, there are instances where the flow is slightly mechanical, and some referencing is a bit repetitive. The paragraphing is appropriate, and each paragraph has a clear central topic. To improve, try to vary the linking phrases and ensure that the transition between sentences within paragraphs is smoother to avoid a list-like feel.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common items, such as 'daunting situations' and 'emotional bond'. However, there are several word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'fulfill an organizational' (which is incomplete) and 'obesity problem' (which is slightly redundant). Spelling is generally accurate, but the vocabulary lacks the precision and sophistication required for a higher band. Focusing on more natural collocations and precise terminology would significantly enhance the quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'People has to work', 'all the work are finished', 'it would also affects') and article usage. These errors are noticeable but do not impede communication. To improve, the writer should focus on proofreading for basic agreement rules and verb forms. Increasing the variety of complex structures while maintaining accuracy would help move the score into the 7.0 range.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.