Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-11

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

The working week should be shorter and workers should have a longer weekend.

Do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Some people believe that working week should be shorter and workers should have longer week. In my opinion, I do not agree with those people who are in favour of long weekends.

On the one hand, there are several advantages of having long weekends. Firstly, workers who work in remote areas will spend some quality time with thier families and the loved ones because it is not possible for them to visit on every weekend to thier homes. For example, In many develop countries most of the low class and middle class familes work outside thier cites and spending time with thier families can enhance thier mood and mental well being for some time. Secondly, it will boost the economy of the country, like 4 days work and 3 days weekend will increase work force productivity , and lowering systematic costs and traffic congestion in many cities.

On the other hand, there are several disadvantages of having long weekends. Firstly, spending long weekends can cause a reduction in standard working hours could lead directly to lower overall earning unless wages are legally adjusted upwards. Secondly, it will efffect the daily routines of the employees, such as long weekend can cause a laziness among workers and they will not want to go for thier jobs on the other day. Moreover, lower class families homes depend on thier jobs, having long weekends will cause reduction in thier salaries and it will difficult for them to manage the daily expensive of thier homes.

In conclusion, I think that longer weekends is not the best decision instead of longer weekend government should decrease the working hours in a day.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the introduction and conclusion: you oppose longer weekends and suggest reducing daily hours instead. You address both sides, giving relevant points about family time, productivity, earnings and household finances. However, the support is uneven. The benefits paragraph includes examples, but the claim that a shorter week would boost productivity and reduce costs is asserted rather than explained. On the opposing side, the link between longer weekends and laziness is also general, while the effect on salaries is more directly relevant. Develop each main point with a clearer explanation or a specific example, and make sure the conclusion follows directly from the reasons you have established. This would make the response more fully developed across all parts of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, two contrasting body paragraphs signposted by “On the one hand” and “On the other hand,” and a conclusion. “Firstly,” “Secondly” and “Moreover” help readers follow the sequence of points. However, the progression within some sentences is less clear, particularly the productivity point, where several effects are compressed together. The conclusion introduces reducing daily working hours, an alternative that is not developed in the body, so the final position does not fully grow out of the preceding discussion. Some linking is also mechanical because points are mainly listed rather than connected through explanation. Build clearer links between each claim and its consequence, and discuss your proposed alternative before the conclusion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “work force productivity,” “traffic congestion,” “daily routines” and “mental well being,” which helps communicate the main ideas. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “systematic costs,” though this is not the natural phrase for the intended meaning. Spelling and word-choice errors recur, including “thier,” “familes,” “cites,” “efffect” and “daily expensive,” and some phrases are awkward or imprecise, such as “longer weekend” and “lower class families homes.” These errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the overall argument, but they limit precision and naturalness. Check spelling carefully and learn common collocations for work, income and family life.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a reason clause with “because” and a conditional structure in “unless wages are legally adjusted upwards.” The main ideas are generally understandable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. For example, “working week should be shorter” needs an article, and “it will difficult for them” is missing a verb. In “spending long weekends can cause a reduction in standard working hours could lead,” two clause structures are incorrectly joined. There are also agreement and number problems, as in “longer weekends is.” To improve, check articles, subject–verb agreement and complete verb phrases, and avoid combining two main clauses without a suitable connector or punctuation.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.