Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-25
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)
There should always be a work-life balance in every job. The more they work the less they get time with family or for themselves. This essay will discuss some views on this.
On the one hand, what all companys or businesses need is employees that spend almost all days of the week for them to increase their profit but in turn what happens is the employee efficiency decreases and eventually affects the enterprise. For instance, a person working throughout the week from Monday to Saturday will only get one off day. He/She would not get enough time to rest, shopping, or even to cook for those who are alone. Consequently, they get exhausted and get tired of this same routine and thus affecting the job.
On the other hand, if the workers are allowed weekends, they can plan their free time with family or for themselves which results in staff performance, good coordination among colleagues and a fresh approach to work on each week. They are relaxed from all the deadlines and reports, giving them a chance to brainstorm new ideas for their employers. Subsequently, there will be a significant change in the profit margin as well career improvement.
In conclusion, longer weekend play a vital role in building a better and stable work environment. Those who have a happy and stressfree mind, who has a balanced life can always bring positive outcome to whatever they are working on with. This should be ensured by all employers.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing whether the working week should be shorter and workers should have a longer weekend, presenting a clear position in favour of shorter working hours. Ideas are generally relevant, such as the impact of overwork on efficiency and the benefits of rest for creativity and profit. However, the development is somewhat limited and lacks depth in places, relying on general statements like "results in staff performance" rather than fully elaborated examples. Additionally, the word count of 247 words falls just short of the 250-word minimum requirement, which must be penalised under task requirements.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The essay is organised into four paragraphs: an introduction, two body paragraphs representing different sides or aspects of the argument, and a conclusion. The overall arrangement is coherent, and the writer uses basic cohesive devices such as "On the one hand," "On the other hand," "For instance," and "In conclusion." However, referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as the pronoun shift in the opening sentences ("every job. The more they work the less they get time"), and paragraphing could be managed more smoothly. Logical progression is present, but cohesion is at times mechanical.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate ideas about work-life balance, efficiency, and profit margins. There are attempts at less common lexical items, such as "exhausted," "brainstorm," and "profit margin." However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors, such as "companys" instead of "companies" and awkward phrasing like "rest, shopping, or even to cook" (faulty parallelism). Furthermore, some collocations are unnatural, such as "longer weekend play" (plural/verb agreement) and "stressfree mind, who has a balanced life."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional clauses ("if the workers are allowed weekends...") and relative clauses. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several errors in subject-verb agreement and singular/plural forms, such as "longer weekend play" and "who has a balanced life" referring back to plural subjects. Punctuation errors are also present, particularly missing commas before relative clauses and in lists. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the score from reaching a higher band.
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.