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)
Many individuals work long hours, leaving very little time for recreational activities. In my opinion, this situation outweigh more disadvantages over advantages because of stress and spending less time with their families and friends.
On the one hand, individuals working long hours can make more money and enhance their living standards, not leaving time to spend money on leisure activities. Therefore, in the way, they can have a huge amount of saving at the end of the month. For instance, In this contemporary world. leisure activities such as dining out and gym membership have become so expensive, therefore, people call them extra expenditures.
On the other, the people who dedicate most of their time to work, heighten their stress and devote less time to family and friends. Although, this can help them to enhance their quality of life, stressing their mind and body as well by taking extra work from them. Furthermore, they live alone as they dedicate very less time to their family and friends. For example, my friend always
In conclusion, the disadvantage outweigh advantages of working long hours and dedicating less time to recreational activities. In my opinion, there must be a balance between the working hours and the lesiure time to maintain high living standards and nourishing family life.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of working long hours, taking a clear position that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. However, the development of ideas is limited due to the under-length nature of the essay, containing only 213 words compared to the required minimum of 250 words. This leads to a penalty for task length. Furthermore, some examples are left unfinished, such as 'for example, my friend always', which prevents ideas from being fully extended and supported. To reach a higher band score, the student needs to ensure the word count requirement is fully met and flesh out arguments with complete examples.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The essay has a basic structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, showing an overall progression. Paragraphing is attempted, though some paragraphs are quite brief or lack internal cohesion due to incomplete sentences. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other', and 'In conclusion', but some transitions are misused or awkward, such as 'therefore, in the way, they can'. Referencing and substitution are generally clear, but the lack of a fully completed final body paragraph slightly disrupts the logical flow and development.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'recreational activities', 'living standards', and 'expenditures'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'this situation outweigh more disadvantages over advantages' instead of 'outweighs the advantages', and 'dedicating very less time' instead of 'much less time'. Spelling is generally accurate, but the lexical range remains somewhat limited and repetitive, which prevents the response from achieving a higher band score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures with subordinate clauses like 'Although, this can help them to enhance their quality of life...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('disadvantage outweigh advantages'), punctuation errors with excessive comma splices ('...in this contemporary world. leisure activities...'), and an incomplete sentence fragment at the end of the second body paragraph ('for example, my friend always'). These errors occasionally cause some strain for the reader.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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