Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-28
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)
Working with massive hours is the biggest discussion under the supervision of each institute. It is said that the duration of work should be reduced and employees should have lengthy leaves. I firmly agree with this phenomenon because it provides advantages to workers' brains in the form of refreshment and allows them to spend time preparing office work plans.
On the one hand, I prefer working for fewer days because a heavy burden of office dealings can disable the brain skills of employees. Therefore, short working hours can increase the interest of workers in their tasks. For instance, when employees in multinational companies or doctors in hospitals perform their duties for 12 hours, they lose their mental health, and when they work only for four or five working days, they can easily deal with their affairs in a good manner.
On the other hand, spending more time with their family members can enhance the interest of workers in performing their duties. Similarly, when an employee spends a lengthy time at the weekend, they can do all office work wholeheartedly. For example, when we are on three months' summer holidays, we become passionate about our work when we are ongoing. In addition, when school teachers go to school after a lengthy break, they deal with children with love to help them seek learning.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The student presents a clear position throughout the response, agreeing that the working week should be shortened to benefit workers' mental health and productivity. The ideas are generally relevant, discussing how reduced hours prevent burnout and allow employees to prepare work plans or spend time with family. However, the task achievement is hindered significantly by the word count: the response contains only 222 words, failing to meet the minimum requirement of 250 words. This under-length results in under-developed ideas, such as the example regarding three months of summer holidays, which is less relevant to a standard working week. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed in terms of breadth and depth, corresponding to a Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response demonstrates a clear overall progression and logical organisation. The essay is divided into an introduction and two distinct body paragraphs introduced by cohesive markers such as 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different arguments. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, the phrase 'when we are ongoing' is awkward and unclear, and transitions between sentences can feel repetitive. Despite these flaws, the relationship between ideas remains generally clear to the reader, placing the response solidly at Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'phenomenon', 'multinational companies', and 'wholeheartedly'. However, there are notable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and phrasing that reflect a limited and somewhat unnatural range. For instance, phrases like 'Working with massive hours', 'heavy burden of office dealings', and 'disable the brain skills' are unnatural in English. Additionally, 'seek learning' is an awkward collocation. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to cap the lexical score at Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and temporal clauses like 'when employees in multinational companies... perform their duties... they lose their mental health.' There is a reasonable variety of structures used throughout the essay. However, there are frequent errors in grammar, preposition use, and phrasing, such as 'working with massive hours' instead of 'working massive hours' or 'working long hours', and 'lengthy time at the weekend'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical inaccuracies cause some difficulty and strain for the reader at times, placing this criterion at a Band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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