Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-24
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 following essay discusses whether workers should get a long weekend, most of the time working overtime can affect the mental and physical health of the individual,which can have serious damages to an individual. The employers should maintain a good schedule for the workers, so that they can enjoy the work life balance.
The approach for making weekends long for workers can have positive impact on workers health. Many organizations try to save their money by hiring limited amount of workers, which can increase the work load and directly affect the health of the workers. This should be considered as a exploitation of workers rights which results in the poor work progres. The employers should hire more workers to ease the work load, by which they can actually get their targets done in the required time.
I strongly agree of the view that workers should have longer weekends, one of the reason is that it helps workers to get adequate rest by which they can progress with full dedication.I was working in a big organization in pakistan, the company was great but there was loads of work which was pending for the workers, due lack of workers hired by the organization, the organization was making good money but it was damaging the employee health, as a result many employees resigned which led to the disastrous downfall of that particular organization. The workers should be compensated to enjoy a long weekend based on their performance. the company should make some rules where if a worker does a good work, he or she could have a performance bonus and also an extra off.This not only helps employee to maintain work life balance but also boosts their performance which leads to the success of the organization/company.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by clearly stating a position agreeing with shorter working weeks and longer weekends. The writer attempts to support this stance with relevant ideas, such as employee health, work-life balance, and organizational productivity. However, some ideas remain under-developed or general, such as the claim about companies saving money through limited hiring, which lacks sufficient extension. While the personal example involving a company in Pakistan attempts to support the argument, it lacks analytical depth. Overall, the task is addressed with a clear position, aligning best with the Band 6 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding thought integrated into the final paragraph. However, paragraphing is somewhat irregular, as the text lacks a distinct, separate concluding paragraph and instead places concluding remarks at the end of the third block. Cohesive devices are used, but referencing and linking can be repetitive or mechanical (e.g., frequent reliance on 'which' clauses to connect ideas). Progression is discernible, but logical flow is occasionally disrupted by run-on sentences and punctuation slips, placing the performance securely at Band 6.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, incorporating terms such as 'work life balance', 'exploitation', 'performance bonus', and 'disastrous downfall'. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, though this is accompanied by occasional word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'poor work progres' (progress) and 'loads of work'. Spelling is generally acceptable, and while errors occur (e.g., missing capitalisation on 'pakistan'), they do not impede communication, matching the Band 6 descriptor.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms. The writer attempts various complex structures, such as relative clauses ('which can have serious damages') and conditional elements, but these are frequently marred by grammatical errors like comma splices and run-on sentences (e.g., linking multiple clauses with commas instead of full stops or proper conjunctions). Errors in punctuation and articles are noticeable throughout the text, though they rarely impede overall communication. Control of grammar is sufficient for a Band 5.5, but due to frequent sentence boundary errors, it leans towards Band 5.0.
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