Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-04

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 5.0)

Nowadays, many people like to enjoy their lives in more meaningful and graceful way to live this life some people believe that working week should be shorter and workers should have a longer weekend. However, i do not completely agree with this view

To start with, India is a country which celebrates all the festivals so people in India generally get more holidays than any other countries. Even sometimes because of illness people take a day off for their selves. Some people also takes holidays in order to roam and refresh their selves. Generally people who live in India get a lot of holidays then any other countries and people usually get more holidays then working days because of this reason week days should not be longer.

Secondly, by providing longer weekend the production capacity of countries decreases and it could also affect the GDP of countries . Some well known successful businessman has said once that we should work 108 hours in week if we want to become number one. The other reason is that if the weekends are longer than people will also lose their capability and they might be lazy. Ultimately this will all affect the country.

To conclude, people get enough holidays and break to refresh their selves. Even because of illness some people avoid going to work so this is one of the reason why holidays should not be longer. Additionally, by providing longer weekends people usually become lazy and it could even affect productivity of the Country.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response addresses the task only partially. Note that 12 words copied from the task prompt were not counted, and the total word count stands at 241 words, which fails to meet the minimum requirement of 250 words. The student attempts to take a position by stating 'i do not completely agree with this view', but the argument remains limited and under-developed. Ideas are repetitive, relying heavily on the notion of people becoming lazy or already having enough holidays, particularly focusing on the context of India rather than addressing the broader global debate about work-life balance and working hours. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to fully extend their ideas with well-developed supporting arguments, remove irrelevant repetition, and ensure the minimum word count is satisfied.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some organisation evident with basic paragraph breaks, but the text lacks a clear overall progression. Cohesive devices are basic, repetitive, and at times inaccurate, such as using 'To start with', 'Secondly', and 'To conclude' mechanically without ensuring smooth transitions between sentences. For example, the second paragraph abruptly jumps between Indian festivals, taking days off for illness, and roaming to refresh oneself without a logical flow. Pronoun referencing is also weak, with ambiguous phrasing like 'this is one of the reason why holidays should not be longer'. To improve, the writer should build better logical links between sentences and use a wider, more accurate variety of cohesive devices to guide the reader through the argument naturally.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The lexical resource is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The vocabulary is basic and repetitive, featuring frequent reliance on everyday words and phrases such as 'meaningful and graceful way', 'roam and refresh their selves', and 'become number one'. There are noticeable errors in word form, collocation, and word choice that cause some difficulty for the reader, including 'takes holidays' instead of 'take holidays', 'in week' instead of 'in a week', and the incorrect reflexive pronoun form 'their selves' instead of 'themselves'. Spelling errors like lowercase 'i' are also present. To achieve a higher band, the student must incorporate a broader range of less common vocabulary and demonstrate greater precision in word choice and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a very limited range of sentence structures. While there are a few attempts at complex sentences, they are often faulty, such as 'Nowadays, many people like to enjoy their lives in more meaningful and graceful way to live this life some people believe that working week should be shorter...', which results in run-on sentences and punctuation errors. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including missing articles ('the working week', 'the GDP'), errors in subject-verb agreement ('businessmen has said'), and incorrect prepositions. These frequent errors cause strain and difficulty for the reader. To progress, the writer needs to practice using a wider variety of complex grammatical structures with accurate punctuation and consistent error-free sentence construction.

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

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