Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-13

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)

Indubitably, in the current era, the working culture is getting very stressed due to long working days in a week. To solve this problem and many others, a number of working days ought to be less to get a long weekend. I strongly agree with this and my opinion will be articulated in subsequent paragraphs.

At the outset, there are numerous reasons for having a long weekend by minimising the working days and first and foremost is to enhance skills. To describe it more, if individuals gets multiple days off then they can work to sharpen their skills and also can learn new skills to get a promotion and higher pay in the future. For example, for a managerial level job, multiple skills are required and a person has only a weekend to learn thus that person will easily manage and utilise effectively the days off.

Moreover, an employee can go on a long holiday. To be more precise, on short weekends going on trips outside town with family is difficult. So, family can spend more time with each other and can go on a short trip to outstation to explore more places. Furthermore, for some people, a job is only a way to earn and they do it without having an interest in it, as a result, it is hard to follow their own passion because of lack of time but if that person gets long weekend, then that time can be spent by following passion and working on hobbies.

To recapitulate, there are various reasons that a working week should be shorter and workers should have a longer weekend such as learning new skills, spending more time with family members and following their passion or dreams.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position agreeing that the working week should be shortened to allow for a longer weekend. The response puts forward relevant ideas, such as enhancing skills, taking long holidays, and pursuing personal passions. However, these ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed, aligning with Band 6. For instance, the point about skill enhancement is introduced but lacks specific, well-fleshed-out examples beyond a vague mention of managerial jobs. Similarly, the idea of pursuing passions is briefly stated without exploring how a longer weekend practically facilitates this. Overall, the response meets the criteria for Band 6 by addressing the prompt with relevant main ideas, though further extension and concrete real-world exemplification would be required for a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introductory paragraph stating the writer's position, followed by body paragraphs and a concluding summary. Progression is generally maintained through basic cohesive devices such as 'At the outset', 'Moreover', and 'To recapitulate'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, the sentence structure in 'to get a long weekend. I strongly agree with this and my opinion will be articulated in subsequent paragraphs' feels formulaic and repetitive. Furthermore, transitions between sentences within body paragraphs can be abrupt, such as the sudden shift from short weekends to family time in the third paragraph. Paragraphing is utilised, but the internal cohesion prevents the response from achieving a Band 7 score, making Band 6 a fair evaluation.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating everyday concepts related to working hours, promotions, and hobbies. Words like 'indubitably', 'minimising', and 'recapitulate' show an attempt to use less common lexical items. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'working culture is getting very stressed' instead of 'stressful', 'to outstation', and 'by following passion' missing an article or pluralisation ('their passions'). While these errors do not impede communication, the presence of frequent awkward collocations and repetition restricts the lexical score to Band 6, as the range remains somewhat limited rather than showing the flexibility and precision required for Band 7.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar. The writer attempts complex structures, such as conditional clauses ('if individuals gets multiple days off then they can work...') and relative clauses. However, there are several grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('if individuals gets', 'person has'), missing articles ('for managerial level job'), and awkward phrasing ('that person will easily manage and utilise effectively the days off'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but run-on sentences with multiple clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions appear frequently. Because these errors occur regularly alongside a mix of simple and complex forms without completely obstructing meaning, the grammar aligns well with Band 6 descriptors.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.