Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-27

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)

There is an ongoing arguments going for a working week that it should be shorter for workers, while other say that this argument is not valid. There are certain downsides of longer weekend, and in my opinion, there is no need to have a longer weekend.

Longer weekend can cause a worker to be affected in more free time, from which a worker gets lazy and involves in other activites. For example, a worker will sit at home, doing nothing, watching tv or playing games. Another downside is fanancial support, as too many workers rely on company to have a lunch or dinner. For instance, if a worker that comes from a rural area and living alone, he or she has to manage living expenses on the weekend. This causes a burden for lower class families.

Moreover, business affection is a major factor for longer weekends. As a company relies on the employees to perform certain tasks, this could not happen if the weekends are longer. This also affects country's growth and economy. Although many workers want to have a longer weekend, company owners will not allow this as it affects them and will have to do many things themsevles. A solution for this is to have a balanced work environment, where workers should be allowed to do tasks remotely.

To conclude, longer weekends have many disadvantages especially for country's growth. People can get affected from it as they could not perform their necessity, if the businesses are closed for longer period in a week. Furthermore, some workers can get affected to higher living costs as they have to manage all the things themselves.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you disagree with a longer weekend, and the response stays focused on possible disadvantages. You give relevant points about workers’ routines, living costs and business activity, with examples such as a worker living alone and companies relying on employees. However, the argument is only partly developed. The claim that more free time makes workers “lazy” is asserted rather than explained, and the financial-support example is difficult to connect to a shorter working week. The remote-work suggestion also introduces a solution without showing how it supports your position. To strengthen the response, explain the effects of each main point and use examples that directly compare shorter and longer working weeks.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. Paragraphs generally group related points, and linking expressions such as “For example,” “Moreover” and “To conclude” help signal the direction of the discussion. Overall, the reader can follow your disagreement. However, some connections are unclear or mechanical. For instance, “Another downside is financial support” does not clearly explain the link between a longer weekend and workers’ expenses, while “This also affects country's growth and economy” moves quickly from company tasks to national effects. Make these cause-and-effect links explicit, and use pronouns such as “this” only when their reference is unmistakable. A clearer progression from each claim to its explanation and example would improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some topic-related vocabulary, including “employees,” “company owners,” “living expenses” and “economy,” and you attempt to express ideas about work and financial pressure. However, the range is limited, and several inaccurate word choices or collocations make parts of the argument difficult to interpret. For example, “an ongoing arguments going for” and “business affection” do not convey the intended meanings naturally; “activities” and “financial” are also misspelled. Phrases such as “perform their necessity” and “higher living costs” are imprecise in context. Build a more reliable set of expressions for discussing productivity, operating costs and work-life balance, and check spelling and collocations so your meaning is clear.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses beginning with “as,” “if” and “although.” This gives the response some structural variety, and the main position is usually understandable. However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors in agreement, articles, verb forms and sentence construction can make the reader pause. Examples include “There is an ongoing arguments,” “other say,” and “a worker that comes from a rural area and living alone.” The sentence beginning “As a company relies…” also has an unclear construction, while “if the businesses are closed for longer period” is missing an article. Practise building accurate clauses first, then combine them; check subject–verb agreement and article use during revision.

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