Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-05

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 6.5)

It is often argued that the regular working week of an employee should be shortened and their weekends must be increased. While this may partially be beneficial, I largely disagree with this view, for reasons that will be outlined in the following essay.

On the one hand, many individuals vouch for permitting longer weekends with shortened working period throughout the week. This provides employees with tangible benefits. Having longer weekends enables workers to mentally and physically relax while also simultaneously facilitating time spent with their families. For example, if an employee has 3 day long weekend, they can consider short trips with their families, giving them more time. Furthermore, providing a shorter work week allows employees to squeeze-in physical activities such as sports or outgoing, to empowering their physical and mental health.

On the contrary, although this mechanism has great benefits to employees in many aspects, there are also a number of drawbacks that exist. A primary drawback of long holiday can result in reduced productivity, increased laziness and procrastination. Consequently, employees would result in accomplishing less work than desired, negatively influencing their personal and the organisation's growth. Moreover, shortening work week proportionally means the companies will have less productive hours, potentially reducing the chances of growth. For example, if a number of employees with crucial roles at an organisation do not work for 3 days consistently, the company could potentially stagnate growth or even decline in terms of their revenue, as there are less people to contribute to the development.

In conclusion, having short work weeks with lengthened weekends allows employees to spend more effective time with their families and also look after their own physical and mental health. However, in spite of these advantages, I disagree with it and believe that having a balanced work week with a substantial working days to weekend ratio is far more crucial and advantageous to the organisation's growth, and it also reduces the chances of reduced productivity in employees.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your response successfully addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position throughout the essay. You state your disagreement in the introduction and reiterate it in the conclusion. Main ideas are relevant, such as the benefits of relaxation on one hand and the drawbacks of reduced productivity on the other. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or repetitive. For instance, the paragraph discussing the benefits touches upon physical and mental health and family time, but the supporting example about a 3-day weekend and short trips remains somewhat general. To reach a higher band, you need to fully develop all parts of your argument with deeper explanations and more comprehensive examples rather than relying on brief illustrations.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression throughout. You make effective use of organizational markers and cohesive devices, such as On the one hand, On the contrary, and In conclusion, which guide the reader smoothly through your arguments. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, dedicating distinct paragraphs to separate viewpoints. However, referencing and cohesion can occasionally feel a bit mechanical, such as the transition into the final paragraph or repetitive phrasing like 'for reasons that will be outlined in the following essay.' To achieve a higher score, ensure that cohesive devices are used more flexibly and unobtrusively, enhancing the natural flow between sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'tangible benefits', 'procrastination', 'proportionally', and 'stagnate growth'. Your choice of words allows the message to be communicated clearly despite some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'outgoing' used as a noun instead of 'outings', or 'to empowering' instead of 'to empower'. Spelling and word formation are generally accurate and do not impede communication. To move up to a higher band, you should aim to use a wider, more flexible range of sophisticated lexical items with precise control over collocations and stylistic appropriateness.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

Your writing displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating your ability to construct varied structures such as concessive clauses ('While this may partially be beneficial...') and conditional examples ('if an employee has...'). There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as missing articles ('a 3 day long weekend', 'less people') and slight prepositional or verb form slips ('to empowering', 'short work week proportionally means'). However, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede communication. To reach the next band, you should strive for a higher proportion of error-free complex sentences and refine your control over minor grammatical details like articles and pluralization.

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

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