Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-27
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 5.5)
In today's rapidly evolving world the topic of working long hours has sparked considerable debate among individuals and experts alike.While there are valid arguments in support of and against this issue, it remains a matter of personal priorities and broader global trends.Working long hours can led to many disruptions and it directly affect your mental, physical and personal life. In coming paragraphs we cover all in detail.
To begin with, there are several reasons why pepole work long hours the first main aspect is to earn more money and respect from other persons. Other thing is the concept of climbng the corporate ladder and become a key member of managment. For example, you can get numerous benefit such as having a private office with servents to take care for you all day. Lastly, it can increase your chance to get the promotion soon.
On the other hand, there are many disadvantages related to working long hours which is massively damaging your mental health. First is it can destory your health in silent way and also make your relationships week with your family and friends. Other is it can change your personality and make you even more worse. For example, you can not take time off for your weeding aniversiry and children birthdays and think you will give the time next year but in reality it is the root cause of the al problems in our life.
In conclusion, working long hours can led to sucess and give you a competetive advantage but we should not neglect the other side by taking little time for leisure activities. In last I believe we should take a balenced appraoch work and personal life.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of working long hours, presenting a clear overall position. The ideas are relevant, such as earning more money, career progression, and the negative impacts on health and personal relationships. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and occasionally superficial. For instance, mentioning benefits like 'having a private office with servents' touches upon the advantages, but the support lacks depth and analytical rigor. The conclusion touches upon the prompt's question of whether there are more advantages or disadvantages by suggesting a balanced approach, but the position could be more explicitly stated throughout the essay. Because all parts of the prompt are addressed with generally relevant ideas, albeit with some under-development, this performance aligns well with Band 6.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with a recognisable introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, satisfying basic structural expectations. Paragraphing is attempted, although the introduction contains a fragmented opening statement ('In today's rapidly evolving world...') and an informal announcement ('In coming paragraphs we cover all in detail') that disrupts the academic tone. Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes mechanical or repetitive, such as 'To begin with', 'First', and 'On the other hand'. Referencing is occasionally faulty, leading to minor ambiguity in pronoun usage. While the logical progression is sometimes hindered by abrupt shifts between ideas, the overall flow remains adequate for the reader to follow the writer's line of thought, placing this at Band 5.5 to 6.0, comfortably fitting Band 6.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common words and phrases such as 'competetive advantage', 'corporate ladder', and 'personal priorities'. However, there are frequent spelling and word-choice errors that detract from the overall quality. Examples include 'led' instead of 'lead', 'affect' instead of 'effects', 'pepole', 'climbng', 'managment', 'servents', 'destory', 'week' instead of 'weak', 'al' instead of 'all', 'sucess', and 'balenced'. Additionally, collocation errors such as 'make you even more worse' and non-standard phrasing occur throughout the response. Although these errors do not completely impede communication, their frequency prevents the score from reaching a higher band, making Band 5.0 the most accurate descriptor.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and relative clauses. However, control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are numerous grammatical errors throughout the text, including tense and agreement issues such as 'Working long hours can led to many disruptions and it directly affect' (should be 'lead' and 'affects'), missing articles ('in silent way'), and awkward phrasing ('you can not take time off for your weeding aniversiry'). Punctuation is also problematic, marked by run-on sentences and missing commas following introductory phrases. While the meaning is generally decipherable, the density of grammatical mistakes means that simple sentences are often error-free while complex attempts frequently introduce errors, fitting the Band 5 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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