Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-01

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)

Nowadays, it has been noticed that majority of people spend thier time in working long hours at work, instead of spending time in doing other activities. There are several benefits and drawbacks of doing this.

To begin with, the first and foremost advantage of spending the most of the time at work is that the person is always engaged in it and there is no time to think about others. Also, it will give them the enough recognition as they will be appreciated by their seniors. Furthermore, they would have the enough time to focus on their work issues and tackle them. The most important merit of working long hours is that they would get extra money by working overtime because some companies have the policies that if a employee work more than this hours they would pay them extra as compared to their salary.

On the contrary, if we don't spend our time in doing leisure activities, we will be frustrated after sometime because repeatedly doing same work can cause this. Firstly, the main disadvantage of spending less time on other activities is that, the person will be disconnected from their friends and families. For instance, if someone is spending more than 12 hours at work and after that they will have very less time with their families when they come home; also, they must be tired as well. Secondly, if the person is just focused on work they will not be able to learn new things such as spending time at sports, gym or any activities that will keep them active. Because of this, there are more chances of affecting their health.

To conclude, working long is beneficial if we do it properly by managing their time on spending on other activities such as any sport or gym.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of working long hours. However, the position is not always clearly maintained, and the ideas presented are somewhat limited and under-developed. For instance, the advantage regarding getting extra money through overtime is mentioned, but the explanation remains basic without strong supporting examples from personal experience. Similarly, the points raised in the body paragraphs lack full extension, causing some arguments to feel repetitive, particularly regarding family disconnection and lack of leisure. To move to a higher level, the writer needs to present fully developed ideas with clear, well-supported arguments and a consistently clear position throughout the entire essay.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the response into introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The writer uses basic cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'On the contrary', and 'To conclude' to signal the direction of the text. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes mechanical, and paragraphing could be managed more effectively to ensure a smooth progression of ideas. For example, the transition between ideas within the second body paragraph feels slightly abrupt. To achieve a higher standard, the writer should employ a wider range of cohesive devices more flexibly and ensure that logical relationships between sentences and paragraphs are entirely seamless without relying on formulaic transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, providing a minimally sufficient range to communicate basic ideas about work and leisure. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items, such as 'frustrated', 'disconnected', and 'overtime', but there are noticeable errors in word choice, collocation, and spelling throughout the text, such as spelling 'thier' instead of 'their' and phrasing like 'spending time in doing other activities'. These lexical inaccuracies and spelling slips do not severely impede communication, but they restrict the response. To progress, the writer must expand their lexical repertoire, utilize more precise word choices, and improve control over spelling and word forms to achieve greater style and naturalness.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response exhibits a limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple forms alongside occasional attempts at complex sentences that are frequently faulty. There are notable errors in grammar and punctuation, such as article misuse ('if a employee work more than this hours'), subject-verb agreement issues ('if a employee work'), and awkward prepositional phrases ('managing their time on spending on'). Although these errors rarely impede overall communication, they occur with enough frequency to highlight a restricted control over complex grammatical patterns. To reach the next level, the writer should incorporate a wider variety of complex structures with improved accuracy, paying closer attention to verb forms, articles, and pluralization.

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