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)

In recent year many human right activists are promoting the idea of longer weekends they believe that longer working weeks has resulted in higher stress rates among individuals. Moreover, they often find very little time for themselves and their family. As a result many employees demands a longer weekend. I partially agree with this view and would suggest a balanced approach for this issue.

The primary reason I agree with this is because it would give workers enough time to relax and relieve their stress. Consequently, workers would be more determined and productive after the weekend as they could concentrate on their work more. For instance, an employee who returns after a short leave tends to work harder in contrast to one who doesn’t.

Moreover, longer weekends also means more time spent with their loved ones. A person can spend more time with their family and could even go for a short family trip which could significantly improve their relation with them. Additionally, they can spend more time on their hobbies and self-development.

On the other hand, most employers say longer weekend can ruin a companies’ outcomes. An explaination for this is that a company could not complete their projects before the deadline due to fewer working hours.

A balanced approach to this issue would be to give one three days weekend to workers every month. This would also provide enough time for a worker to relax without hurting the companies’ outcomes.

In conclusion, it would not be wrong to say that a balanced approach is what this issue needs.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by taking a clear, partial position on whether the working week should be shortened. Main ideas regarding stress reduction, family time, and potential negative impacts on company outcomes are presented and supported with some explanation. However, some arguments remain somewhat under-developed and lack the depth expected for a higher band. For instance, the solution offered at the end ('give one three days weekend to workers every month') is brief and not fully elaborated. Nevertheless, the position is coherent and the task is adequately addressed throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The text demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing different angles, and a brief conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised to separate distinct points, such as the benefits of longer weekends versus employers' concerns. Cohesive devices are employed, including words like 'Moreover', 'Consequently', and 'Additionally', although referencing and cohesion can sometimes feel mechanical or slightly repetitive (e.g., the frequent use of 'moreover'). Logical progression is generally maintained, though transitions between paragraphs could be smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and phrasing such as 'human right activists', 'stress rates', and 'self-development'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations, such as 'companies’ outcomes' instead of 'productivity' or 'business output', and 'an explaination' which contains a spelling error. Despite these slips, the vocabulary used is sufficient to convey the intended meaning without impeding communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional-style ideas and relative clauses. There are, however, several grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, such as missing apostrophes or subject-verb agreement issues ('In recent year', 'longer working weeks has', 'employees demands', 'longer weekend' as a singular countable noun). Punctuation errors, such as run-on sentences and comma splices (e.g., 'As a result many employees demands...'), occur regularly. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they prevent the text from achieving a higher band score.

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

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