Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-22
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)
The statement here demonstrates an opinion about the working week, whether to have longer weekend and and shorter working days or not. I personally believe that in a week of seven days, there should be atleast five working days and two off days. Two days are sufficient for someone to take rest and relax after effectively working straight for five days. Two days of leaves are enough for everyone to personal works. If we reduce the number of working days, then the effectivity of work process would be greatly affected, which will then heavily affect the progress of work and eventually leading to chaos and increase in working period, labour and cost. It also decreases the level of motivation and develops laziness. It can significantly affect to people who earns their income on the basis of working days. Other disadvantages of longer weekends are loss of will to work, irrregularity, boredom etc. Let's take an example of a construction of a hotel. If the labours works for four days and get of for three days, imagine the hustle happens! The days for completion of construction will surge, the labours will be paid less salary and the opening of the hotel will be delayed. Moreover the task will also take time to finish with less number of workers and if the number of labours increased, then the constructor have to spend more money on their salary, leading to huge expenditure on manpower. So, I believe that there shouldn't be more weekends in a week
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by clearly stating a position against a shorter working week. However, the development of ideas is somewhat repetitive and relies on generalizations. While you provide an example regarding construction, the explanation of how this leads to 'chaos' or 'laziness' is not fully supported by logical evidence. To improve, ensure that each point is expanded with more depth rather than listing multiple negative outcomes. The conclusion is abrupt and lacks a summary of your main arguments, which is necessary for a well-developed response at higher bands.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into a single block of text, which significantly hinders the logical flow. IELTS essays should be structured into clear paragraphs (introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion). While you use some cohesive devices like 'Moreover' and 'So', the transitions between sentences are often mechanical. The lack of paragraphing makes the progression of ideas feel cluttered. To improve, group your arguments into distinct paragraphs—one for economic impacts and one for motivational/social impacts—to help the reader follow your line of reasoning more effectively.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your meaning, but there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors. For example, 'effectivity of work process' should be 'efficiency of the work process', and 'get of for three days' is a spelling error for 'get off'. Phrases like 'hustle happens' are too informal for an academic essay. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise academic collocations and ensure that your word forms are accurate throughout the text.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('labours works', 'constructor have to spend'), incorrect preposition usage ('affect to people'), and awkward phrasing ('the opening of the hotel will be delayed'). While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy, particularly with pluralization and verb tense consistency.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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