Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-07

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 frequently argued that workers should have more days to rest and shorter work weeks. I completely disagree with this statement as it can have a bad affect on consistency, growth and productivity.

Firstly, although rest is very important in our lives, it can make a person lazy. Hardships teach us to handle unfamiliar or tough situations, but if we make rest our priority, we cannot learn these lessons. For example, a person who works most of the time daily is far better in his profession than a person who spends most of his time resting. Dedicating more hours to work allows an individual to gain deeper experience.

Furthermore, while shorter workweeks can be a reason for enjoyment, they frequently result in missed deadlines. For example, a person spending his long weekend doing nothing can become a reason for late submission of his work, which can directly affects the company's reputation. Long workweeks protect us from such mishaps.

On the other hand, doing work all the time can be exhausting, can drain energy and have a bad affect on productivity of an individual. But this issue can be easily resolved. Companies should arrange a full week vacation for their employees. So, they can rest and reset their mind and come back to work with full energy. If companies start this practice, they will see a huge improvement in the productivity of their employees.

In conclusion, I am in favour of longer work weeks because they help us to remain consistent and productive.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have clearly stated your position against a shorter working week and maintained this stance throughout the essay. The ideas are relevant, such as the link between long hours and professional growth, and the potential for missed deadlines. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For example, the claim that rest makes a person 'lazy' is a broad generalization that lacks nuance. To reach a higher band, ensure that your arguments are more thoroughly explored with more sophisticated reasoning rather than relying on binary assertions. You addressed all parts of the prompt, but the depth of analysis could be improved to better support your central argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Furthermore', and 'In conclusion' to signal the progression of your argument. While the logical flow is generally easy to follow, the transitions between some sentences feel a bit mechanical. Additionally, the referencing is sometimes slightly unclear, such as in the second paragraph where the connection between 'hardships' and 'rest' could be more explicitly linked to the workplace context. Overall, the structure is coherent, but more varied and sophisticated linking words would improve the flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to express your ideas clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'productivity', 'deadlines', and 'professional'. However, there are some repetitive word choices and minor collocation errors, such as 'bad affect' (should be 'bad effect') and 'a reason for enjoyment'. To improve, try to incorporate a wider range of less common lexical items and ensure correct word forms. The current range is sufficient to communicate your meaning, but it lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher band scores.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is generally clear, there are recurring grammatical errors that detract from the quality of the writing. For instance, you wrote 'can directly affects' (should be 'can directly affect') and 'a bad affect' (should be 'a bad effect'). There are also some minor issues with article usage and subject-verb agreement. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on proofreading for these specific types of errors will help improve your accuracy.

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

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