Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-19

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, people spend a larger part of their day at work due to increased workload and have little time for social life. This can have a negative impact on their mental health, productivity at work, and family bonding.

Working for longer period of time can make people feel stressed and exhausted. Once stressed, their level of productivity reduces significantly and the risk of having suppressed immune system is imminent. For instance, there is a link between stress and the risk of having high blood pressure.

A survey of workers in Lagos state shows that majority of them have high blood pressure compared to other states where workers are not exposed to much stress.

Having more time for leisure improves mental health and wellbeing. Going on family tours or having dinners with friends reduces work tension and give room for the opportunity to recharge and refresh. A good work-life balance is the ideal for sustainable development

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify a clear negative view, focusing on stress, health, productivity and relationships, and the examples about blood pressure and leisure with family or friends are relevant. However, the response only partially answers the comparison in the question: it describes disadvantages and benefits of leisure, but does not explicitly weigh whether the overall situation has more advantages or disadvantages. The ideas are also under-developed; for example, the Lagos survey is mentioned without explaining its source or connecting the comparison clearly to long working hours. The response contains 155 words, so it does not meet the required minimum of 250. Develop a direct position and extend each main point with explanation and a specific, relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: the opening introduces the issue, the next paragraph discusses the effects of long hours, and the final paragraph presents the value of leisure. This gives the reader a basic progression, and phrases such as “For instance” help signal an example. However, the relationship between the paragraphs is not fully explicit: the final paragraph shifts to the benefits of leisure without clearly linking them to the judgement about which side is stronger. Some connections within sentences are also awkward, particularly “reduces work tension and give room for the opportunity to recharge.” Use clearer transitions to compare the two sides and make each paragraph’s central point explicit. A conclusion would also help bring the argument together.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “workload,” “mental health,” “productivity,” “suppressed immune system,” and “work-life balance.” These choices communicate the subject clearly, and some less common expressions show an attempt to be precise. There are, however, several unnatural or imprecise collocations, such as “family bonding,” “the risk of having suppressed immune system,” and “give room for the opportunity.” “A larger part of their day” is understandable but less natural than a more direct expression. The phrase “sustainable development” is not clearly connected to the point being made. To strengthen your vocabulary, choose natural collocations and ensure that formal terms directly support the argument.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the opening sentence with “due to” and the conditional structure “Once stressed, their level of productivity reduces significantly.” Most sentences are understandable, and errors rarely prevent the reader from following your meaning. Some grammatical inaccuracies remain: “Working for longer period of time” needs an article or plural form, “the majority of them have” requires “the” before “majority,” and “reduces … and give” has inconsistent subject–verb agreement. The final sentence also lacks a full stop. These are generally local errors rather than problems that obscure the message. Check articles, agreement, and punctuation during revision, and use a wider range of accurately controlled sentence structures.

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