Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-18
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 5.0)
It is often argued that numerous people invest most of the time to work and that leaves very minimal time for leisure activities.
while there are both advantages and disadvantages of working extra hours. However from my perspective, i belive that there are more disadvantages of working long hours.
First of all I belive a person should have a work life balance where he can manage both the things together during the day. It is all about managing and prioritize the task. Now i would like to mention the disadvantages of working extra hours, when a person is continuously working it gives detramental effects on both mind and body.
A person always feel the tiredness as he is not getting enough rest. stress level also boost boost. we can even see the change in the behaviour of the person as he will always stays irritated.
Further more i would like to mention an example from my life, my friends father was a workoholic person who was very much dedicated and focoused in his life. i have alsways seen him working throughout the day but one day he was hospitalised in an emergency, later on we all got to know we got a heart attach, the reason shared witht the doctor was that he was under so much work stress. doctor further explained the importance of taking rest.
to conclude i would like to say that we must manage our work life balance and take out time for leisure activities. s,o we can live stress free life
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing the disadvantages of working long hours, taking a clear position that the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. The ideas presented, such as the negative effects on physical and mental health and the importance of work-life balance, are relevant. However, the development is somewhat limited. While the essay acknowledges both advantages and disadvantages in the introductory sentence ('while there are both advantages and disadvantages of working extra hours'), it fails to elaborate on what the actual advantages might be, focusing almost entirely on the negative aspects. The personal example provided about a friend's father is relevant and supports the argument regarding health stress, but overall, the task is addressed only partially due to the lack of exploration of the counter-perspective. This places the response firmly in Band 5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
There is a basic logical progression in the essay, moving from the introduction to the writer's position, followed by general disadvantages, a personal example, and a brief conclusion. However, the overall organisation is hindered by poor paragraphing and formatting. The second and third body paragraphs are run together or awkwardly split, and cohesive devices are frequently mechanical or misused, such as 'First of all I belive' and 'Further more i would like to mention'. Additionally, referencing and logical transitions between sentences are sometimes weak, as seen in the sudden shift to the personal example without a smooth transitional sentence. Paragraphing is not used effectively to structure the arguments, resulting in a score of 5.0 for this criterion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is generally basic and repetitive, with frequent reliance on simple words like 'work', 'time', and 'person'. There are noticeable attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'detramental effects', 'workoholic', and 'focoused', but these are marred by spelling errors ('detramental' for detrimental, 'workoholic' for workaholic, 'focoused' for focused). Other word choice and collocation errors are present, including 'stress level also boost boost' and 'got a heart attach' instead of heart attack. The range is minimally adequate to convey the basic message, but inaccuracies in spelling and word formation cause some difficulty for the reader, fitting the Band 5 descriptors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar and punctuation is weak throughout the text. There are numerous punctuation and capitalization errors, such as starting sentences with lowercase letters ('i belive', 's,o'). Grammatical errors are frequent, including missing articles, subject-verb agreement issues ('a person always feel'), and incorrect preposition usage ('witht the doctor'). Run-on sentences and comma splices also occur, such as in the conclusion ('take out time for leisure activities. s,o we can live stress free life'). While the meaning can generally be understood, the high frequency of errors places this submission at Band 5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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