Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-25

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)

It is believed that co-workers should have a longer weekend and working week should be shorter. I firmly agree with this viewpoint. My inclination is justified further.

The foremost reason to support my view is that, people can spend quality time with their family. Since many workers work for a long hours throughout a day, they spend less time with their children. As a result, by giving shorter working week they can strengthen their relationship with children. In addition, working professionals can go for longer trip. This is because due to hectic schedule in a week time many family decide for longer distance for relaxation. Therefore, they can spend time with each other and improve mood.

Furthermore, another reason is that individuals can learn new skills in leisure time. If they have a free time, they can learn new language, swimming or reading books. Hence, it is helpful in individual growth and they can gain confidence after learning new skills.

However, some people may have different opinion. They believed that people become lazy if employers give longer weekend. Because many people spend large amount of time on electronic gadgets such as mobile, tv and laptop. Consequently they follow sedentary life style and it also affect their performance at the workplace. For example, recent survey in India showed that, workers who had shorter working week may decrease their performance at the office.

In conclusion, although there are some disadvantage like laziness, I believe that it has more benefits such as relaxation and spend quality time with family.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. The ideas are relevant, such as family time and personal development, though they are somewhat briefly developed. The counter-argument is included, which is a positive feature of a balanced essay. However, the supporting examples, such as the 'recent survey in India', are vague and lack specific detail, which limits the depth of the argument. To improve, you should aim to expand on your points with more concrete explanations or real-world examples to ensure the response is fully developed rather than just outlined.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'In addition', and 'Consequently' to link ideas. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the use of referencing could be more sophisticated. For instance, the transition between the second and third paragraphs is abrupt. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of cohesive devices and ensuring that the progression of ideas within paragraphs is smoother and more naturally connected.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to express your ideas clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'sedentary lifestyle' and 'workplace'. However, there is a lack of variety and precision; some phrases are repetitive, such as 'spend time' and 'learn new skills'. There are also minor collocation errors, such as 'decide for longer distance' instead of 'choose to travel further'. To improve, try to incorporate more academic collocations and synonyms to avoid repetition and demonstrate a more flexible range of vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('a longer weekend', 'a shorter working week'), pluralization ('co-workers', 'children'), and verb tense consistency ('They believed' instead of 'They believe'). Some sentences are slightly awkward, such as 'My inclination is justified further'. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage, and try to incorporate more complex sentence structures with greater accuracy to elevate your control over the language.

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

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