Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-15

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 recent years, people have been arguing that the weekend is longer than the working days. I completely agree with it. This essay discusses the benefits and reasons for the long weekend and short weekdays before reaching a conclusion.

On the one hand, there are many reasons for the long weekend. First and most importantly, on the weekend, people do housework and relax. For instance, people wash their clothes and hair, and do more work on the first day of the weekend and relax their minds on the other days. As a result, they are more concentrated on their work. Secondly, people have more time for their habits. For example, playing, reading, learning something. As a result, they boost their habits, which also helps them develop skills mk.

On the other hand, short weekdays are good for everyone because people can not concentrate regularly on their work, so they want a break from it. For instance, as there are no weekends, workers become lazy day by day due to insufficient rest. As a result, work is not done on time and not accurately. Moving further, some people become stressed due to overwork or regular work. As a result, their health is affected.

In conclusion, after looking at the reasons and benefits of the aforementioned trend, one can conclude that long weekends like two or three days are good, but very long ones, like more than four days, have a direct effect on financial condition, which is not good for anyone.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the start: “I completely agree,” and you give relevant reasons, including time for rest, household tasks, hobbies, and the effects of overwork. The conclusion also adds a qualification, noting that weekends longer than four days could harm people’s financial condition. However, the response does not fully explain how a shorter working week would work or why it would benefit workers and employers; the point that people “can not concentrate regularly” is asserted rather than developed. Some examples, such as washing clothes and hair, are specific but do not clearly demonstrate the wider benefits. Develop each main reason with a clearer explanation or a relevant example, and make the relationship between shorter weekdays and longer weekends consistent throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting reasons, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” helps readers follow the main stages. Within paragraphs, however, the repeated pattern of “For instance” and “As a result” can feel mechanical, and some links between ideas are unclear. For example, the first paragraph moves from housework and relaxation to hobbies without explaining how these points connect to the proposed working-week change. The phrase “short weekdays” also does not clearly distinguish shorter working hours from fewer working days. Use more varied, precise transitions and make each paragraph progress through a reason, explanation, and supporting example.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “concentrated,” “insufficient rest,” “overwork,” and “financial condition.” However, the range is limited and several expressions are imprecise or unnatural, which sometimes makes the argument less clear. “People have more time for their habits” is not the intended natural expression; “hobbies” or “personal interests” would be clearer. “Boost their habits” is also an awkward collocation, while “develop their skills” expresses the idea more accurately. The phrase “long weekend” is repeated often, and “short weekdays” is not a precise way to describe a shorter working week. Aim for accurate topic-specific phrases and vary repeated wording without choosing vocabulary that changes your meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple sentences and some longer structures, including clauses with “because,” “so,” and “as.” Most of the meaning remains understandable, but some grammatical errors and sentence fragments reduce accuracy. “For example, playing, reading, learning something” is not a complete sentence and should be attached to the preceding sentence. In “people wash their clothes and hair,” the parallel phrasing is unclear, and “people can not concentrate regularly on their work” would be more naturally expressed with “cannot concentrate consistently.” The final sentence is also long and would be clearer if divided or carefully punctuated. Practise forming complete sentences around examples and checking clause structure, agreement, and punctuation in longer sentences.

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.