Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-08

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)

There has been an ongoing debate on the prolonging the weekends. Many people argue that the working days should be fewer, while others believe that it affects the productivity. From my perspective, I firmly disagree with the statement of longer weekends.

On the one hand, providing more off days from work decreases the productivity of both the worker and the company. Employees are less likely to focus on their work. In this way, they often suffer from losses. For instance, in Pakistan, a software house based in Bahawalpur developed a strategy which allow their employees to work only 4 days a week. Initially, the performance was outstanding. Everyone enjoyed their work, but, afterwards majority of the workers became lazy and often took their work for granted. Consequently, many important projects got delayed. Hence, the company sufffered from a huge loss of their international clients. Therefore, the firm decided to cancel their longer weekend strategy in order to recover from their loss. Thus, I believe that shorter weekends could play a positive role in the overall economy of the country.

On the other hand, while longer weekends disturpts the performance, employees should get atleast two days off from work. It helps them to look after their families, and keeps them motivated in the long run for their work. Moreover, working women often requires a weekend to take care of their children, and do their household chores. However, I believe that businesses should adopt a strategy where they allow pregnant women, or other incapable individuals to work from home. In this way, the productivity of both the business and the person is less likely to get affected.

To sum up, although weekends are neccessary for the workers, there should be a balance between their working shcedule and their off days.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction and conclusion: you disagree with longer weekends, while recognising that workers need time off. You address both productivity and employees’ personal needs, and the Bahawalpur software-house example gives your argument some specific support. This meets the task well overall. However, the example is presented as a broad cause-and-effect claim, and the point that workers became lazy is not explained or substantiated. Your second main point also shifts towards recommending flexibility for pregnant or “incapable” workers, rather than directly developing why the working week should remain unchanged. Develop these ideas more carefully and connect each example explicitly to your position to make the response more fully convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, two contrasting body paragraphs and a conclusion. Paragraphs generally have identifiable purposes, and signposts such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand” and “To sum up” help readers follow the argument. This gives the essay coherent progression. At times, however, linking is mechanical, with several sentences beginning “Therefore,” “Hence” or “Thus.” The relationship between the claim that longer weekends reduce productivity and the later recommendation for two days off could also be made clearer; the distinction between a longer weekend and a reasonable two-day break is not fully explained. Use fewer formulaic transitions and add clearer links between claims, examples and your overall position.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “productivity,” “performance,” “motivated” and “strategy,” and the main ideas remain understandable. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “ongoing debate” and “overall economy.” However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward: “prolonging the weekends,” “suffer from losses,” and “take their work for granted” do not express the intended ideas precisely. Spelling errors such as “sufffered,” “disturpts,” “neccessary” and “shcedule” also reduce accuracy. Aim for natural collocations and proofread carefully; more precise vocabulary would make the argument sound more controlled and persuasive.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses with “while,” “although” and “where,” and most sentences communicate their meaning. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly with agreement, verb forms and articles. For example, “a strategy which allow” should be “a strategy which allowed,” “majority of the workers became” needs an article, and “working women often requires” should be “working women often require.” The sentence beginning “On the other hand, while longer weekends disturpts the performance” also has an unclear grammatical relationship between its clauses. Review subject–verb agreement and clause construction, then check punctuation and sentence boundaries to improve accuracy while retaining your range of structures.

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