Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-02

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)

I completely agree with this stance that working weeks should be shorter and weekend are longer. This will have many advantages. the health of humans are improved, also balanced their work life and they gradually increase their productivity. It also have many drawbacks for specific businesses, retail shops, and organizations.

Firstly, longer weekends increased employees productivity and it also makes them relax and stress free. They also give more time to their family and it will enhance their creativity and problem solving skills. They may think more better and it will raised their mental health. When they give more time to their family it will make their mood happy and it will motivate them to work.

Secondly, shorter work weeks make them tension free of the work stress and it helps them to balance their work life. When employees are relax new ideas, thoughts and creativity will come in their mind. They work more nicely then in stress. This will encourage them to do more work when they see their family happier.

Thirdly, there are many drawbacks of long weekends. Some businesses have to do their operations in working days and this will lead them to bigger loses and failure. Many software companies that are actually need long working week. They will also suffer by giving their employees long weekends and they may have to shut their businesses off due to big loses.

At the end, there are many advantages of long weekends but also their are many disadvantages. It will increase their productivity, also understand how to balance their work life, but this will lead to many problems such as; decline in their sales, and faces numerous loses. But it will make employees stress free.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position in favor of shorter working weeks. However, the development of ideas is somewhat repetitive and lacks depth. While you mention benefits like mental health and productivity, these points are not fully explored with specific examples or logical depth. The counter-argument regarding business losses is introduced but remains superficial. To improve, ensure each paragraph introduces a distinct, well-supported point rather than restating the same concepts (e.g., 'stress-free' and 'productivity') across multiple paragraphs. The conclusion summarizes the points but does not add any new insight or final synthesis.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the argument. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive. Phrases like 'Firstly,' 'Secondly,' and 'Thirdly' are used, but the internal flow within paragraphs is often disjointed. For example, the transition between the benefits of family time and the impact on mood is abrupt. Additionally, some sentences lack logical connection, such as the sudden shift to business drawbacks in the third paragraph. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each sentence logically follows the previous one would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for a higher band. You rely on basic terms like 'good,' 'happy,' and 'nice,' and there are frequent errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'think more better' (should be 'think more clearly') and 'raised their mental health' (should be 'improved their mental health'). There is also a lack of topic-specific vocabulary related to labor economics or organizational management. To reach a higher band, focus on using more sophisticated synonyms and ensuring that words are used in their correct grammatical context.

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. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('the health of humans are improved,' 'it also have many drawbacks') and incorrect verb forms ('it will raised'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of semicolons and commas. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focus on proofreading for basic agreement and tense consistency to improve your accuracy.

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

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