Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-25

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)

Nowadays, many people work long houres which leaving them with very little time for leisure activities. this situation may have some advantages, I believe that disdatvantages are greater because it negatively effacts people's health and family relationships. In this essay iwill discuss both sides advantages and disadvantages and provied some relevant examples.

On the one hand, working long hours provied sevseral benefits. peoples may earn more money, improve their financial situation, and achive their future goals. For example, employees who work overtime may recevice extra pay, which can help then manage household expenses and provied a better education their children. They want to achive everythings in their life. One reason who work long hours they provied better lifestyle and basic facitities their family.

On the other hand, spending more time at work can be cause serious problems. Firstly, people may experience stress, tiredness, and many health issues because they do not get enough rest.secondly, they have no time for their families and friends. As a result, relationship may become weaker and people feel lonely. For instance, parents who work all day they have no time for children to help thier studies and enjoy with them and spend time together. there are many drawbacks people who work extra they are short-tempered because they are feel stress and tired every time they have no time for some rest and leisure acctivities in daily routine.

To sum up, I belive that both situation are acceptable, working long hours provieds several benefits but no doute spending more time at work can may cause serious health problems. I think disadvantages outwieght advantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both sides of the question and state your view: the introduction says the disadvantages are greater, and the conclusion repeats this position. Relevant points include extra income and support for children’s education, contrasted with stress, health problems, and weaker family relationships. However, the discussion is only partly developed. The benefits are mostly listed, and the claim that long hours help people achieve goals is not explained; the drawbacks receive more detail but remain general. The example about parents having little time to help their children is relevant, but it would be stronger with a specific consequence or illustration. Develop each main point with a clear explanation and example, and keep your conclusion consistent rather than calling both situations “acceptable” before stating your preference.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “To sum up” help signal these stages. However, progression within paragraphs is uneven, and some ideas are joined in ways that make their relationship unclear. For example, “They want to achieve everything in their life” does not clearly connect to the preceding point about extra pay. The disadvantages paragraph also shifts from family time to short temper without a clear transition. Some linking is repetitive or mechanical, while punctuation and sentence boundaries sometimes interrupt the flow. Group related points, explain how each example supports its claim, and use clear sentence breaks and references.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “overtime,” “financial situation,” “health issues,” and “relationship.” However, the range is limited and several spelling and word-choice errors make parts difficult to read, such as “houres,” “disdatvantages,” “effacts,” and “facitities.” Some phrases are also unnatural or imprecise: “achieve everything in their life” and “provied better lifestyle” do not express the intended ideas clearly. Repetition of “work long hours,” “time,” and “provied” further limits flexibility. Build a small set of accurate collocations for this topic, and check spelling and word forms carefully. More precise choices will make your arguments clearer without requiring unusually advanced vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, including a cause-and-effect structure in “people may experience stress… because they do not get enough rest.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and frequent errors sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. Examples include “which leaving them,” “can be cause serious problems,” and “parents who work all day they have no time,” where clause structure or verb forms are incorrect. There are also problems with agreement and articles, as in “relationship may become weaker,” and sentence boundaries are inconsistent. Practise building complete sentences with one clear subject and verb, then add subordinate clauses using accurate patterns. Proofread for capital letters and full stops as well as grammar.

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