Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-06

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 argues that employees should have a longer weekend and a shorter working week. I completely agree with this statement because it lowers stress and allows families to spend extra time together.

The main reason that reducing the working week is beneficial is that it can lower stress levels for many individuals. This is primarily because employees can save time from commuting to work, which they would not have to wait in traffic for long periods of time. For instance, if an employee had to work for five days, this could lead to higher stress levels, which is why reducing the working week to three of four days could greatly prevent this issue from happening. As a result, people could allocate more time to relaxing for three or more days and come to work feeling better.

Another significant reason is that workers can spend extra time with their families. Having one extra day to spend with families can lead to stronger relationships for most employees. Any extra time workers can utilize with family is beneficial. For example, a working parent was only able to allocate one day to spend it with their families; however, now they could easily spend one or two more days with their families, which can help them to build memorable moments, such as going to the theatre. Ultimately, this builds a greater work life balance for employees.

In conclusion, I strongly agree that reducing the working week for employees and providing longer weekends is beneficial because it can mitigate stress levels and allow extra quality time with families.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by clearly stating a position on whether the working week should be shorter and workers should have a longer weekend. Your position is maintained throughout the essay. You present relevant main ideas, such as reducing stress levels and increasing family time, which successfully support your argument. However, some ideas remain slightly under-developed rather than fully extended; for instance, the mention of commuting time is not fully connected to the overall economic or social implications of a shorter working week. To reach a higher level, you would need to extend your supporting examples with greater depth and fully explore the consequences of your arguments rather than relying on brief explanations.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, as each body paragraph focuses on a distinct central topic. You make use of cohesive devices such as 'The main reason that', 'Another significant reason is that', and 'In conclusion' to signal the logical progression of your ideas. However, referencing and cohesion can occasionally feel somewhat mechanical, and some transitions between sentences lack absolute smoothness. For instance, the transition from commuting to working four days in the second paragraph could be integrated more fluidly. To progress further, ensure that every cohesive link feels entirely natural and that referencing pronouns point back to their antecedents with absolute clarity.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'mitigate stress levels', 'allocate more time', and 'work-life balance'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and phrasing, most notably the opening error 'It is argues' instead of 'It is argued'. Additionally, some collocations and expressions are slightly repetitive, such as the frequent reuse of 'spend extra time with their families'. While these lexical errors and minor slips do not impede communication, they prevent the vocabulary from achieving the flexibility and precision required for a higher band. Incorporating a wider variety of synonyms and more sophisticated lexical chunks would elevate your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms throughout the essay, successfully utilizing conditional structures and relative clauses, such as 'if an employee had to work for five days, this could lead to...'. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as the tense inconsistency and awkward phrasing in 'a working parent was only able to allocate one day to spend it with their families', but these errors rarely impede communication and the meaning remains clear. To achieve a higher band, you would need to display a greater variety of complex structures with higher frequency of error-free sentences, ensuring absolute control over verb tenses and clause structures.

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.