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 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. 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 the workplace helps to fulfill an organizational goals. 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 fatigued and frustrated 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 prioritize relaxing activities with the balanced work at workplaces. They should take breaks to 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 prompt, providing both advantages and disadvantages of working long hours. The position is clear throughout, and the ideas are generally well-developed. For instance, the discussion on physical health issues like 'neck pain' and 'obesity' provides concrete support for the disadvantages. However, some points, such as the claim that long hours help 'tackle daunting situations,' are slightly underdeveloped and could benefit from more specific elaboration. Overall, the response maintains a consistent focus on the task and provides a balanced view, meeting the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0 level of development.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand,' 'Moreover,' 'Despite the advantages,' and 'Furthermore' are used to guide the reader through the argument. While the progression of ideas is generally clear, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally repetitive. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. The structure is sufficient to ensure the message is conveyed clearly, though it lacks the sophisticated, unobtrusive flow required for higher bands.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary such as 'financial stability,' 'organizational goals,' and 'mental wellbeing.' However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'few time' (should be 'little time') and 'effect a person's health' (should be 'affect'). While the range is sufficient to communicate the intended meaning, the lack of more precise or sophisticated lexical items limits the score to a 6.0.

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 and articles. Examples include 'People has to work' (should be 'People have'), 'This make them feel' (should be 'This makes'), and 'If an individual do not' (should be 'does not'). These errors are noticeable but do not significantly impede communication. To reach a higher band, the student needs to improve control over basic grammatical rules and increase the accuracy of complex sentence constructions.

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

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