Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

In the contemporary world, work is necessary thing in individual's life, but having a regular break from the continuous work is also required to live a happy lives. If someone who spend very little time to their leisure activities will have more disadvantages as compared to advantages. This essay will explore the the valid reason along with an appropriate examples in the ensuing paragraphs.

The primary disadvantage is that people can improve their productivity in their work. This is mainly because of people can get sufficient amount of relaxation, which significantly improves their productivity, while they will back to their work. The prime example of this is that many people spend their free time to play a games. Which mainly enhance their cognitive power, interpersonal skills, and leadership skill. Consequently, people could be able to do their tasks with full of confidence.

The second important disadvantage is that people can maintain their health, if they are exposed to do an activities, whichever they like most. It is due to the fact that if person involves in an activity, which he or she likes to do, eventually they reduces their stress level. Ultimately, they would be able to manage their stress level. To illustrates this, if someone who follows their hobby will get refreshed from their daily workload. As a result, they remain fit without having any health concerns.

There are plenty of advantages of having less leisure time for working people. One of the most significant benefit is that people can finish their projects before meeting deadlines. On the top of that it gives unrealistic bonuses as well as the promotions from an upper management.

In conclusion, although having little free time give more benefits, but it also creates some other crucial consequences. However, it have more disadvantages like poor health, less productivity, and many more, which will affects individual's personal as well as professional growth. Therefore, I believe that having less leisure time has more disadvatages rather than advantages.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt and presents a position, but the development of ideas remains limited and under-developed. For instance, the second body paragraph intends to discuss disadvantages regarding health, yet it introduces the concept in a confusing manner, stating that people can maintain their health if exposed to activities, which actually points towards an advantage rather than a clear disadvantage. Similarly, the fourth paragraph abruptly lists advantages of having less leisure time, but these points lack extension and clear support. To move to a higher level, the writer needs to ensure all parts of the prompt are fully explored with well-supported arguments rather than repetitive or contradictory points.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some basic organisation with clear paragraph breaks, but overall progression is lacking. The connection between paragraphs feels mechanical, and some cohesive devices are used inaccurately, such as starting body paragraphs with statements like 'The primary disadvantage is that people can improve their productivity,' which contradicts the actual point being made about productivity benefits stemming from rest. Referencing can also be unclear, as seen with dangling phrases and repetitive transitions. To improve, the writer should ensure that logical relationships between sentences and paragraphs are maintained accurately and that cohesive devices guide the reader smoothly through the argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, providing a basic range with noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and collocation. Examples of awkward phrasing include 'work is necessary thing in individual's life' and 'exposes to do an activities.' There are also issues with word forms, such as using 'disadvatages' instead of disadvantages and 'illustrates' instead of illustrate. These lexical errors sometimes cause hesitation for the reader. To achieve a higher score, the writer must incorporate a wider and more precise range of vocabulary, demonstrating better control over less common lexical items and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer uses a limited range of structures, with frequent errors occurring when attempting complex sentences. Examples of grammatical inaccuracies include 'If someone who spend very little time to their leisure activities,' where subject-verb agreement and prepositions are faulty, and 'while they will back to their work.' Punctuation and article usage also show frequent errors, such as missing articles ('a valid reason along with an appropriate examples') and unnecessary fragment sentences ('Which mainly enhance their cognitive power'). These frequent errors can cause difficulty for the reader. Incorporating a greater variety of error-free complex structures will elevate this criterion.

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