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)

It is widely acknowledged that many people nowdays work for long hours which leaves them with no or little time to enjoy with leisure activities. It is evident that it has both significant advantages and disadvantages at the same time.

With the rise in inflation over the past decades, it has become hard to maintain a high standard of living for everyone.This leads to people finding various jobs and working for long time so that they can afford a living in todays world.Moreover,due to this most people find it hard to fulfill their other wants in this materialistic world such as luxurious houses, watches, bags and clothing.With the rising uncertainity in todays job market people tend to choose to work so that they can save up for their future because its very unpredictable.This leads them to get stuck in a vicious cycle of work,sleep and repeat.

However,it gives them very little time to spend on activities which they enjoy.Also,they get to spend less family time with their loved ones.It often causes serious problems to their mental health sometimes since they are always stressed about work and hardly have a social life.It can lead to physical problems as well because they do not get time to indulge themselves in workout, walks and yoga which helps us to calm our nervous system and leads to movement of the body.

In conclusion, I strongly think that there should be a work life balance in everyone's life.Not only because it is important for their family but also for their overall well being. It is understandable that affordability has become an issue from few decades but working and envolving yourself in recreational actvities equally vital.Human health is humans biggest strength.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the financial pressures driving long working hours and the negative impacts on health and relationships, establishing a clear position that work-life balance is essential. However, the evaluation leans heavily toward the disadvantages without providing a fully balanced comparative weight on whether there are strictly more advantages, which reflects an uneven development of ideas. While points regarding inflation and living standards are relevant, they are somewhat generalised and lack concrete extension or specific examples from personal knowledge. To reach a higher level, the writer should ensure that every main idea is fully explored with deeper elaboration and clearer comparative reasoning regarding the advantages and disadvantages.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, and the main body paragraphs are divided logically between the driving forces of overwork and its consequences. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Moreover', 'However', and 'In conclusion', though referencing and transitions are occasionally mechanical or slightly repetitive. Paragraphing is employed to separate distinct ideas, but internal paragraph flow could be smoother to create a more natural progression of thought. For future improvement, integrating a wider variety of cohesive links and ensuring seamless transitions between sentences will elevate the overall organisation.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and phrases such as 'materialistic world', 'vicious cycle', and 'standard of living'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice inaccuracies, including 'nowdays', 'uncertainity', and 'envolving', alongside some awkward phrasing like 'afford a living'. These errors do not impede overall communication, but they highlight an inconsistent control over word forms and spelling. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to expand their range of precise lexical items and eliminate minor slips in spelling and collocation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writing includes a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an ability to form multi-clause sentences such as 'It is widely acknowledged that many people nowdays work for long hours which leaves them with no or little time...'. There are, however, several errors in grammar and punctuation, including missing commas, article omissions ('from few decades'), and minor prepositional misuse. While these errors rarely impede communication and the basic meaning remains clear, the presence of frequent minor slip-ups prevents the grammar from reaching a higher level of control. Greater attention to punctuation rules, article usage, and complex structure accuracy will yield stronger results.

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