Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-05

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 6.0)

Nowadays, there is a popular trend among society to work longer hours, ultimately they donot get enough time to enjoy free-time. This has led to differing opinions about its pros and cons. Although working for an extended period of time offers chances to earn extra, it has certain drawbacks including feeling of tiredness throughout the day and negative effects on the health of a person. This essay will examine both benefits and drawbacks in the following paragraphs.

One of the negative outcomes of this trend is that people get tired easily. This is because they are quite busy in their hectic schedule at work. As a result, they often get irritated on many occasions. Moreover, their health get compromised as they do not get time to focus on their diet and workout. For example, a significant number of professional workers are suffering from tension headache due to their busy schedule at work. Taken together, individuals are less energetic and are facing heath issues due to this trend.

It is the opportunity to earn an extra income which makes everyone to work beyonds the recommended hours. This is mainly because many firms pay double pay for overtime shifts which attract workers to spend more time at job. Consequently, their monthly income gets increased. For example, restaurant employees works long shifts of 10-12 hours everyday for earning good wage at the end of month. Thus, this is the major advantage that motivates people to work long hours.

In conclusion, work for long hours provide benefit to earn extra money but it has more disadvantages. Not only people get tired due to long hours shifts, but it also has some adverse affects on their health.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task and takes a clear position that the situation has more disadvantages, stating this view in both the introduction and conclusion. Relevant ideas are presented, such as the negative effects on health and tiredness, as well as the financial benefits of working longer hours. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. While the disadvantages are explained with supporting points like tension headaches, the discussion surrounding the financial advantage is somewhat generalized and lacks deeper extension, such as how increased income impacts overall quality of life. To reach a higher band, the writer would need to extend and support all main ideas more thoroughly throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement and provides a clear overarching direction. Information and ideas are logically sequenced, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing disadvantages and advantages respectively, followed by a concluding summary. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct themes. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as 'One of the negative outcomes', 'Moreover', and 'In conclusion', though referencing and transitions are at times slightly mechanical. To achieve the next band and demonstrate fully seamless progression, the writer could make use of more flexible and subtle cohesive ties rather than relying on standard formulaic connectors, ensuring smoother transitions between sentences and paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'hectic schedule', 'professional workers', and 'extra income'. Meaning is generally conveyed clearly despite some word choice and collocation errors, such as 'work for long hours' instead of working long hours, and 'works long shifts... for earning' rather than to earn. There are also occasional phrasing inaccuracies like 'work beyonds the recommended hours' and spelling or spacing issues like 'donot'. These vocabulary and spelling lapses do not impede communication. To move up to the next band, the writer needs to incorporate a wider range of sophisticated, less common lexical items with greater precision and stylistic control, while avoiding collocation slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination through structures such as 'Although working for an extended period of time offers...' and 'This is mainly because many firms pay...'. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, including subject-verb agreement issues such as 'their health get compromised' and 'restaurant employees works', alongside missing articles and preposition errors. However, these errors rarely impede communication and the meaning remains clear. To reach a higher band, the writer would need to produce a higher frequency of error-free sentences using a wider variety of complex structures with tighter grammatical control.

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