Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-18

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 6.5)

It is often debated that the working days must be shorter and employees should have a longer days off. I agree with this view as it helps their physical and mental well-being, as well as more time with their loved ones.

To begin with, nowadays more and more employees are reported of being burnout from their working environment. The reason for these are no work-life balance because of many working hours and days. The working week should be shorter to allow workers to explore life outside working environment. For instance, during days off, they can do outdoor exercises, travel or even pamper and treat themselves. This will improve their physical body fitness and help to release stress from work because working long hours can cause burnout and exhaustion. Furthermore, longer weekends give workers more time to sleep, exercise and relax. Through this, well-rested employees may return to work with more energy.

In addition, most of the employees have their own family. If they always work most of their days, they no longer have time for their family and children. Children needs also love, care and guidance from their parents as part of child's development. Parents should allocate their time and nurture their child to strengthen their relationships. For example, employees who have an extra day off can spend more time with their children or take care of household responsibilities. Through this, it will creates a happy family with stronger and healthy relationships.

In conclusion, I believe that the working week should generally be shorter because it can improve employees' health, work-life balance and productivity.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by clearly stating a position agreeing that the working week should be shorter and providing reasons to support this. The main ideas, such as physical and mental well-being and family time, are relevant and extended. For example, the student explains how longer weekends allow workers to participate in outdoor exercises or travel, which helps release stress. Similarly, the point regarding family development is supported by explaining that children need love and guidance from parents. While some ideas could be slightly more deeply developed to reach the highest band, the response clearly covers all parts of the prompt with a well-maintained position throughout, aligning well with the Band 7 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear overall progression and logical organisation. Each paragraph has a clear central topic, moving from an introduction of the student's stance to body paragraphs focusing on well-being and family, and concluding appropriately. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'For instance', and 'In addition' are used to sequence ideas, although some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately to separate distinct arguments. Referencing is generally clear, contributing to an essay that is easy to follow from start to finish, fitting the Band 6.5 to 7.0 profile well.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'well-being', 'burnout', 'exhaustion', and 'allocate'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, such as 'reported of being burnout' instead of 'reported to suffer from burnout' or 'burning out', and 'physical body fitness' which is slightly redundant. Spelling is generally accurate, and vocabulary choices do not impede communication, allowing the reader to understand the intended meaning without difficulty, which places this firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over complex structures like conditional or relative clauses ('If they always work most of their days, they no longer have time...'). However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'Children needs also love' instead of 'Children also need love', and 'it will creates' instead of 'it creates'. Punctuation is generally fine, and while these errors are frequent enough to prevent a higher band, they rarely impede overall communication, reflecting the characteristics of a Band 6.0 performance.

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

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