Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-01

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 widely believed that, there should be fewer employment hours for employees, while more holidays for them. I totally agree with this statement.

Initially, the significant number of people concede that: there should be shorter working days for employees, as it enhances their work productivity and also mitigates their workload. For instance, some organizations in Japan made the rules that, their workers should spend less hours on work during weekdays, due to this particular change they see immense increase in their production and quality of work. To sum up, if you give your employee more rest time, so in return they will work hard in their regular working timetable.

Moreover, if companies create rules for shorter working timetable , it benefits the workers as they spend more quality time with their families, that will help them to unwind and lessen their stress after the hectic day. For example, an employee who works in reputed company that have shorter working hours, they return home early and have long weekends to spend good time with their family and make the memories that will encourages them to work harder.

In contrast, the employees that have shorter weekends, and hectic day routine, have to spend more time on work and less time with their loved ones.

In conclusion, according to my collage of views, shorter working hours have more positive benefits as compared to longer working hours. It makes the work more productive and don't affect the mental health of the employees as well.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by clearly stating a position in favor of shorter working weeks. The ideas are relevant, focusing on productivity and work-life balance. However, the development is somewhat limited. The example regarding Japan is vague, and the explanation of how shorter hours lead to increased production could be more deeply explored. The conclusion is a bit repetitive, and the 'In contrast' paragraph is underdeveloped, lacking a clear link to the main argument. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is fully supported with detailed reasoning and specific, well-explained examples rather than brief assertions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices such as 'Initially', 'Moreover', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel mechanical, and the internal cohesion within paragraphs is occasionally weak. For example, the sentence 'To sum up, if you give your employee more rest time, so in return they will work hard' is slightly awkward in its logical flow. Referencing is generally clear, but the overall progression could be smoother. The use of punctuation, particularly the unnecessary colons and commas, occasionally disrupts the flow of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks sophistication. There is some repetition of basic terms like 'employees', 'work', and 'shorter'. While the student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary ('work productivity', 'mitigates their workload', 'hectic day'), the range is limited. There are also minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'my collage of views' (likely meant 'collection' or 'consensus') and 'make the memories'. To improve, the student should focus on using more precise synonyms and collocations to express ideas with greater clarity and variety.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that, while not impeding communication, are noticeable. Issues include incorrect article usage ('the rules that, their workers'), subject-verb agreement ('an employee... they return'), and punctuation errors (unnecessary colons after 'believed that' and 'concede that'). The sentence structure is often repetitive, relying on similar patterns. To achieve a higher band, the student needs to demonstrate better control over complex sentence forms and reduce the frequency of basic grammatical slips, particularly regarding articles and pluralization.

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

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