Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

A large number of people working as a full-time and doing a long hours shifts. Although, the cause of that they don't get enough time in their hobbies and doing some leisure activities. T his development has both benefit and throwbacks.

One significant advantage is that, if individuals are doing more work hours they can manage their work life significantly.

In addition, people could get more reward points at work place. Another benefit is that, it will give them more opportunity to success in their post and They will get a handsome salary. In addition, by getting a good salary workers could manage their expenses. For instance, If i am working whole week, I can earn beneficial salary and manage my expenses and buy what ever I need. Although,

However, there are also some drawbacks, individuals could not spent time for themselves in leisure activities. Moreover, employees may create a physical stress and frustration due to they cannot get time to rest. Although, it will affect their family relation cause they cannot spend quality time with each other. It will create misunderstanding. For example, my parents are working a full-time and they return home when I get slapped. so, we could not communicate with each other and also it will affect their mental health.

In conclusion, working full-time will increase your salary. I believe that it is negative for your health and relationship with your family. Therefore, maintaining both are significant working as well as a laser time with yourself.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both sides of the question by describing higher earnings and career opportunities as benefits, then discussing reduced leisure, stress, and family difficulties. Your conclusion makes your overall view clear: the negative effects on health and relationships outweigh the financial benefit. However, the position is not consistently clear earlier, as the introduction says the situation has “both benefit and throwbacks” without indicating which side is stronger. Several points are also under-developed: for example, “more reward points” and “more opportunity to success” are not explained, while the example about your parents is difficult to understand. State your judgement clearly in the introduction and explain each main point with a relevant, clear example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. This helps the reader identify the main sections of your argument. However, progression within paragraphs is uneven, and linking words are sometimes mechanical or incorrectly used. “Although” appears at the end of the advantages paragraph without completing a contrast, and “In addition” is repeated several times. Some connections between ideas are unclear, particularly the move from long hours to “reward points” and the example about your parents. Use topic sentences to guide each paragraph, connect each example directly to its point, and choose linking expressions according to the relationship between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “leisure activities,” “quality time,” “physical stress,” and “mental health.” These choices show an attempt to discuss both personal and financial consequences. However, the range is limited and several inaccurate word choices or collocations make parts of the argument difficult to follow. For instance, “manage their work life significantly,” “more opportunity to success in their post,” and “beneficial salary” do not express the intended ideas naturally. There are also spelling or word-form problems, such as “throwbacks” where you mean disadvantages and “laser time” for leisure time. Build a bank of accurate phrases for employment, income, and work-life balance, and check word forms and spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple sentences and longer structures, including a conditional example beginning “if individuals are doing more work hours” and a clause introduced by “Although.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and frequent errors in sentence formation and verb forms sometimes make meaning unclear. For example, “A large number of people working as a full-time and doing a long hours shifts” is not a complete, correctly formed sentence; “individuals could not spent time” uses the wrong verb form; and “my parents are working a full-time” has an incorrect tense and article pattern. Sentence boundaries and punctuation also need attention. Practise building complete subject–verb sentences, then add subordinate clauses only when their grammar is secure.

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