Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-16

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)

Workers should have more days off on the weekend, and the working week should be shorter. However, I do not agree with the idea of fewer working days in the week.

Firstly, in many countries, businesses have allowed their workers to work from home. They can work and perform tasks without going to the office and that saves time and gives the workers flexibility. For instance, they remain home all week with their families. Workers needed weekend to enjoy their life and to be with their family. Nowadays, they can work from home while being surrounded by their family. They do not have to go to the office. It helps them save a considerate amount of time they would have spent on the road, which now can be spent with family. For that particular reason, I believe that working days should remain the same.

Some businesses cannot afford to give a longer weekend to their employees, as their business would get affected. They need their workers to work five days a week. For instance, the education sector needs to be open all week. In Pakistan, many faculty members work all week, as they are required to be present all the time to help the students with their queries. Students can visit them even on Saturday and Sunday. An exam is on Monday, and they lost their student card. They need the faculty member to help resolve this issue on a Sunday, otherwise the student will not be able to take an exam. The working week should not be made shorter, but rather pay should increase for people who work all week. Companies should compensate them handsomely.

In conclusion, I do not believe that people should work fewer days a week, as some of them require being present at their job all the time, and others are already working from home.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is stated clearly: you oppose a shorter working week, and both body paragraphs offer relevant reasons. The discussion of working from home explains how flexibility can reduce commuting time, while the Pakistan example illustrates why some educational services need staff available at weekends. However, the first reason does not fully establish why the number of working days should remain unchanged: working from home can save time, but it does not necessarily replace the benefits of a longer weekend. The education example is more specific, though it focuses on one type of workplace and could be linked more directly to the wider question. Develop each reason with clearer explanation and acknowledge the opposing view before showing why your position remains stronger.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two reason-based paragraphs and a conclusion. Sequencing expressions such as “Firstly,” “For instance,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the main stages. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes repetitive: the first paragraph repeats that workers can stay home and spend time with family, rather than moving through distinct supporting points. The shift from the general claim about businesses to the detailed student-card scenario is also abrupt, and “An exam is on Monday” reads as a disconnected example. Use clearer links between claims and evidence, and organise each paragraph around one main reason followed by explanation and a smoothly introduced example.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate your main ideas, including “flexibility,” “compensate,” and “present” in the context of workplace availability. Some repetition and imprecise collocations limit the range and naturalness of the expression. For example, “more days off on the weekend” and “longer weekend” repeat the task wording, while “a considerate amount of time” appears to use the wrong word for the intended meaning. Phrases such as “work all week” are also broad and could be made more precise. Build a wider set of expressions for working arrangements, staffing needs and employee benefits, and check that chosen words fit their intended meaning and collocate naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including subordinate clauses with “as” and “while,” and most of the message remains understandable. However, control is uneven, particularly in the example about the student: “An exam is on Monday, and they lost their student card” shifts tense, and the following sentence changes to “They need” without a clear reference. There are also awkward sentence constructions, such as “Workers needed weekend,” where the subject and verb form do not match the intended general statement. Review tense consistency in hypothetical or illustrative examples, and make pronoun references explicit. More accurate control of these patterns, alongside varied sentence forms, would make the argument easier to follow.

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