Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-20

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 5.0)

In today's competitive world, many people spend extended hours at workplace, leaving very less time for relaxation or personal interests. While working prolonged hours may bring financial rewards or opportunities of career advancement. I believe the disadvantages of this lifestyle far outweigh the advantages as it can negatively impact physical health and relationships.

On the one hand, working long hours has several benefits. First, working hard can help with developing and expertising new skills. Secondly, working overtime at a workplace makes you financially secured, and also provide you an opportunity to grow with the company. For example, young people choose to work prolonged hours at the early stages of their lives to learn skills that can be used in foreseeing future

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You give a clear answer to the question by stating that the disadvantages “far outweigh the advantages,” and you identify relevant areas: financial rewards and career development on one side, and health and relationships on the other. However, the response addresses the task only partially. The disadvantages are named but not explained or supported, and the advantages receive only brief development; the example about young people ends before its point is completed. The response also does not meet the required minimum length, so there is not enough discussion to establish a developed comparison. To improve, explain how long hours affect health and relationships, support each point with a complete example, and finish with a conclusion that reinforces your judgement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction presents your position, followed by a paragraph on advantages. Signposting such as “On the one hand,” “First,” and “Secondly” helps readers follow the sequence of points. However, the overall progression is incomplete because the disadvantages promised in the introduction are not developed, and there is no concluding paragraph. The final example also stops mid-thought, leaving the paragraph without a clear ending. Build a separate paragraph for the disadvantages, use linking phrases to show how each example supports your view, and add a conclusion. This would create a more complete line of argument rather than a sequence that ends abruptly.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “financial rewards,” “career advancement,” “physical health,” and “personal interests.” These choices make your main ideas clear, and “prolonged hours” shows an attempt to vary wording. However, several expressions are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “expertising new skills,” “financially secured,” and “grow with the company.” The phrase “foreseeing future” is also unclear, which makes the example difficult to understand. Aim for more accurate collocations and word forms, such as “developing expertise,” “financially secure,” and “future career prospects.” A wider range of precise vocabulary would help you explain the effects of long working hours more clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of sentence forms, including a complex opening sentence with “leaving very little time” and a sentence beginning “While working prolonged hours…”. However, the latter is a dependent clause presented as a complete sentence, so it needs to be joined to the following main clause. There are also errors in agreement and sentence construction: “working overtime … makes you financially secured, and also provide” should use a consistent subject and verb form, while “choose to work … to learn skills that can be used” becomes difficult to follow as the sentence continues. These errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, but they limit control. Practise completing clauses and checking subject–verb agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries.

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