Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-17

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)

The working week should be shorter and workers should have a longer weekend where, I partly agree with this view.

To commence, if workers have shorter working week they can rest well because working for long hours everyday can be sometimes exhausting since, they will rest for long time the can work efficiently and their productivity will increase. For example, if a person is working everyday for long hours than he will not work effectively. Whereas, if he will rest well he will have the urge to outperform. As a result, it will benefit the business.

Conversely, if there are long weekends and people will not work continuously they would definitely become lazy and does not want to work this will burdenize them and the businesses will also suffer as there would not be enough workers. Consequently, everything will cause mess so it really depends on a person.

In conclusion, longer working weeks could be beneficial as well as stressful so it is equally important to manage work and health side by side without worrying.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You present a partly agreeing position and give relevant reasons: shorter hours may improve rest and productivity, while longer weekends could reduce workers’ motivation and affect businesses. However, the position is not fully clear or consistently developed; the conclusion shifts to saying longer working weeks can be beneficial as well as stressful, rather than directly resolving whether the working week should be shorter. The examples are general and the effects are asserted rather than explained in detail. The response also contains 162 words, which is 88 words below the required minimum; 13 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. Develop each reason with a specific example and make your final position explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two contrasting body paragraphs and a conclusion. Connectors such as “To commence,” “Conversely,” and “In conclusion” help signal the stages of the argument. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear: the first body paragraph moves from rest to efficiency and business benefits without fully explaining the links, while the second combines laziness, staffing shortages and general disorder. Some linking is mechanical, and “where” in the opening does not clearly connect the prompt to your position. Use clearer topic sentences and develop one connected chain of reasoning in each paragraph, with references that make it clear who or what “they” refers to.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including relevant terms such as “productivity,” “efficiently,” and “burdenize.” There is some attempt to vary expression, for example “the urge to outperform,” but several choices are inaccurate or unnatural and make the argument less clear. “Burdenize them” is not an appropriate expression here, and “cause mess” is too vague for the intended consequence. Repetition of “work,” “long,” and “rest” also limits the range. Aim for more precise collocations when discussing working hours and business effects, and choose vocabulary that fits a formal essay. This would make your ideas clearer without requiring unnecessarily complicated words.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, using clauses with “because,” “since,” “if,” and “as a result.” However, the range is limited and complex sentences are often faulty, with errors that sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to follow. For example, “if workers have shorter working week” is missing an article, and “they would definitely become lazy and does not want to work” has inconsistent verb forms and agreement. The opening sentence also uses “where” incorrectly and has awkward punctuation. Practise building accurate conditional sentences and checking subject–verb agreement, articles and punctuation. Shorter, well-controlled sentences would help you express the argument more reliably.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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