Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The working days in a week should be lesser and employees should have more holidays at the end of week. I disagree with this statement because it may lead the workers in their comfort zone.

In my perspective, the success of any sector depends on the working of its employees. As if workers do less tasks in a week, the revenue of the company will drop. For example, if someone has a veterinary hospital, and the veterinarain takes four holidays in a week, he will do work just 3 days that will lead to decrease the profit of hospital. On the other hand, it will also not effective for the health of animals if hospital closes more days in a week. As some animals need continuous treatment and care for several days. There is a disease called "Feline Penleukopenia Virus" and in this condition, the cat needs continuous treatment of approximately ninty days. So, if veterinarain will not present on more days, health of the cat will suffer.

Additionally, more holidays will lead workers in comfort zone and they will not be ready to come on work on their duty day. Working less in a week can also significantly decrease the working ability of an employee. For instance, if an individual do job in a typing company and he takes more off in the week, his capability of typing will affect. And consequently, company will face the outcomes. But, it also depends on the circumstances of the government. As recently in Pakistan, the government introduced a smart lockdown that the working days will be shorter than the normal routine. This was done because of the shortage of fuel at national level and the government had to take the decision for the welfare of public.

To conclude, the number of working days should not be shorter as it is not beneficail for the individual and company unless an emergency occurs.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by clearly taking a position (disagreeing with shorter working weeks) and providing supporting arguments. The ideas are relevant, such as the impact on company revenue and employee productivity, and a specific example regarding a veterinary hospital is provided. However, the development of ideas tends to be repetitive, particularly with the recurring notion of workers entering a 'comfort zone'. While the example of Feline Panleukopenia Virus adds specific detail, the integration of the government lockdown in Pakistan feels slightly tangential and interrupts the main flow of the argument. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, placing it firmly in Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised, separating distinct ideas into logical blocks. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or overused, such as the repetitive use of 'Additionally' and 'For example'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and logical progression between sentences could be smoother. For instance, the transition into the government policy example in Pakistan lacks a strong cohesive link to the preceding points about typing companies and comfort zones. Paragraphs contain relevant main ideas, but the internal flow occasionally stumbles, which aligns with the Band 6 descriptor.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate their main ideas successfully. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'substantially', 'revenue', and 'circumstances', but these are often accompanied by inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'lead the workers in their comfort zone' instead of 'into' their comfort zone, or 'ninty days' (spelling error). Other phrasing, such as 'do less tasks' and 'takes more off', is overly simplistic. The lexical range is sufficient for communication, but frequent minor errors in word formation and collocation prevent a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional-style phrasing ('if someone has a veterinary hospital, and the veterinarain takes four holidays...'). However, grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('the veterinarain will not present', 'capability of typing will affect'), article omissions ('decrease the profit of hospital'), and preposition misuse ('do job in a typing company'). While these errors do not severely impede overall comprehension, they occur frequently enough across both simple and complex sentences to cap the score at Band 5.0.

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.