Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-11-03

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 individuals spend most of their time at work, which leaves them with limmited oppertunities to enjoy their leisure activite. As every coin have two sides as well as exessive work have both type of impact. But eceesive use of everthing is not good for life it is disturb lifebalance.

On the one hand, working long hours have some postive effects. Firstly, employees can earn more money, which helps them improve their fanicial situation and fulfil their family's needs. Secondly, spending more time on work can help people gain perfessonal experence and devolep new skills. As a result, they may have better career opportunities and achieve their perfessional goals.

On the other hand, i believe that working long hours has more drowbacks. One major disadvantage is working long hours cause health and mental health problems, such as stress, tiredness, anxiety. Moreover, people my not have to enough time to spend with their family and freiends. for instence, parents who working for long hours may struggle to giving proper attention on their children.In addition, leisures activies such as playing games, treavling, reading books and spending time with family may important for maintaing a healthy lifestyle.Without free time people may feel unhappy.

In conclusion, although working long hours can improve people's fanicial conditions and career development, but i strongly believe that the disadvantages outweight the advantges beacuse they can negatively affect health, family relationships and overall happyness.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both sides of the question and make your position clear: the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. The points about income, career development, health, and family time are relevant, and the example of parents struggling to give attention to their children helps illustrate the impact. However, some ideas are asserted rather than explained. For instance, the benefits of gaining skills are not linked to a specific outcome, and the health effects could be developed by explaining how limited rest affects wellbeing. The opening comments about “every coin” and excessive use are also unclear. The response is 14 words below the required minimum, so add a little more relevant explanation or an example to meet the task requirement and develop your ideas more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph presenting advantages, a paragraph explaining disadvantages, and a conclusion that restates your view. The signposts “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” make the progression easy to follow. This coherent arrangement meets the core expectations, and the main points are generally grouped appropriately. To make the flow more polished, use linking and referencing less mechanically and connect ideas within paragraphs more explicitly. For example, the list of leisure activities could be followed by a sentence explaining how these activities help people recover from work. Also check sentence boundaries and spacing, particularly around “children.In addition,” as these interrupt the otherwise understandable progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “financial situation,” “career opportunities,” “stress,” “anxiety,” and “family relationships.” These choices help communicate the main arguments, but the range and control are limited by repeated general wording and numerous spelling errors. Examples include “limmited,” “oppertunities,” “perfessonal,” “drowbacks,” and “happyness”; these errors can make the reader pause. Some expressions are also unnatural or unclear, such as “both type of impact” and “maintaining a healthy lifestyle” in the context of leisure activities. Build accuracy by checking spelling and choosing precise collocations. More specific terms for the effects of overwork and the value of leisure would make the argument clearer and more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a relative clause in “money, which helps them improve…” and a conditional structure beginning “Without free time…”. However, errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction occur across the response and sometimes make meaning less clear. For example, “working long hours have” should use a singular verb, while “people my not have to enough time” contains several problems in the same clause. The opening sentence “As every coin have two sides…” is also not formed as a complete, clear sentence. Work on accurate subject–verb agreement and complete sentence patterns before adding more complexity. Proofreading punctuation and sentence boundaries will also help readers follow your ideas.

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