Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-16

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)

The employment week should be decreased and employees should have extended weekend. I strongly agree with the statement due to several compelling reasons such as good work life balance which leads to mental and physical relaxation together with employment relief.

Significant increase in work life balance. people will be able to spend more quality time with there loved ones instead of keeping there head in work being around their families help them relax and calm. Increment in their psycological and mental relaxation will eventually lead to improve performance at there work space which create a healthy space for other employees to work. For instance if someone is having a bad day at work it will create an environment which will effect other employees and their performances.

Moreover, another crucial factor to consider is that it will help the employer to have relief as the employees will have equal working week and weekend. Employer would be able to save the monthly business cost and use that amount to invest in other sectors which will expand their source of income as they will not be depending on one business they will be less prone to losses. For example employer benefits from the situation by saving money on bills, utensils and other stuff when the business is not operating.

in conclusion, I firmly believe that having equal working days and vice versa is necessary for work life balance and creating a healthy atmosphere for other workers along with benefiting the employeer in several ways.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response presents a clear position agreeing with the prompt and supports it with relevant ideas, such as improved work-life balance and psychological well-being. Furthermore, the writer attempts to introduce an economic benefit for employers. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the argument regarding the employer saving money on 'bills, utensils and other stuff' is underdeveloped and slightly informal. While all parts of the prompt are addressed, the support lacks depth and extension, preventing the essay from reaching a higher band. Overall, the task is answered, but the reasoning remains basic throughout, aligning well with the descriptors for Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement and logical progression, dividing ideas into distinct paragraphs for personal benefits and employer benefits. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or missing entirely, and referencing is occasionally vague, such as 'when the business is not operating' without clear links to preceding sentences. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion within paragraphs feels disjointed due to run-on sentences and a lack of smooth transitional phrases. For example, the transition between discussing mental relaxation and the employer's perspective relies heavily on basic conjunctions like 'moreover'. These limitations reflect the characteristics of a Band 6.0 performance.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'psychological and mental relaxation' and 'compelling reasons'. However, there are numerous word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, including 'employment week' instead of 'working week', 'decrease' instead of 'shortened', and 'employment relief'. There are also minor spelling and mechanical issues, such as 'there' instead of 'their' ('spend more quality time with there loved ones'). Despite these errors, communication is not impeded, and the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, which places this response securely at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capacity for subordination with clauses such as 'For instance if someone is having a bad day...'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in punctuation, capitalization, and sentence boundaries. For example, sentences often lack proper comma separation in conditional structures, and the final paragraph begins with a lowercase letter ('in conclusion'). There are also agreement errors, such as 'Employer would be able' missing an article. Because these errors occur frequently and occasionally disrupt the flow, the grammar aligns with Band 5.0.

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

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