Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-12

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 the modern era, working for families is mandatory, for fulfilling fundamental needs. With this, people believe that working days must be shorter and employees should get prolonged weekends. I admire that extended weekends can help individuals to spend quality time with loved ones. With due consideration,

Initially, it has been observed that shorter working hours are beneficial because fewer working hours help to maintain individuals' mental pressure and stress. Furthermore, reduced working hours and prolonged weekends allow people with more opportunities to strengthen family relationship. For instance, my friend who is working in Dubai school receives three days leave every week, which allows her to spend quality time with her family. Therefore, extended weekends are indespensable for individuals, that increase the productivity and concentration as well as helps people to make fewer mistakes caused by exhaustion.

In contrast, it is believed that individuals often become inactive during extended weekends. Furthermore, health, education and other essential sectors need continuous staffing. For example, prolonged weekends

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You take a broadly supportive position, stating that longer weekends can improve family life, reduce stress and increase productivity. The example of your friend’s three-day leave helps illustrate the family-time point. However, the response addresses the task only partially: the opposing point about inactivity and staffing needs is introduced but left unfinished, and your position is not clearly restated or weighed against these concerns. Several claims, such as fewer mistakes and better concentration, need explanation or an example. The response is also 86 words below the required minimum, which leaves too little space to develop the argument. To strengthen the answer, complete the counterargument, explain why your view remains stronger, and support each main reason with specific detail.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some organisation: an opening introduces the issue, the next paragraph gives reasons in favour, and the final paragraph begins to present a counterargument. Linking expressions such as “Furthermore,” “For instance,” and “Therefore” show an attempt to connect ideas. However, the overall progression is incomplete because the final paragraph stops after “For example, prolonged weekends,” and the opening ends with “With due consideration,” without completing the thought. The relationship between the counterargument and your own position is therefore unclear. Some links also feel mechanical rather than showing how one point develops from another. Use complete paragraphs with a clear topic sentence, explanation and example, then finish with a conclusion that directly answers the question.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “fundamental needs,” “prolonged weekends,” “mental pressure,” “productivity,” and “concentration.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and some attempts at less common language are evident. However, several expressions are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “working for families,” “maintain individuals’ mental pressure,” and “strengthen family relationship.” “Indespensable” is also misspelled, and “I admire that” does not express agreement naturally. These issues do not prevent the reader from understanding your general meaning, but they limit precision and naturalness. Aim for familiar, accurate collocations, and check spelling and word forms before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a reason clause in “because fewer working hours help…” and a relative clause in “my friend who is working…”. Most of the main ideas remain understandable. However, some grammatical errors affect accuracy: “allow people with more opportunities” has an incorrect structure, and “increase the productivity and concentration as well as helps people” has a subject–verb agreement problem and an unclear parallel construction. The opening fragment “With due consideration,” and the unfinished final example also leave sentences incomplete. Work on complete sentence boundaries, agreement, and parallel structures. For example, make the benefits follow one consistent pattern: reduced hours can improve concentration and help workers make fewer mistakes.

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