Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-28
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 6.5)
The employees should have a longer weekend and working days should be reduced. It is a highly debatable topic and from my perspective, two offs a week are sufficient to effectively use the manpower with adequate work-life balance.
Advocates of this idea contend that, providing extra day offs can boost productivity and mental well-being but it is a double-edged sword. Two offs on a weekend are more than enough for a person to enjoy their time with family and do their pending tasks. Another compelling argument is that, it saves energy consumption costs. Although it saves usage of resources, it slows down the workflow and results in a slow-paced production. A recent example is the 'smart lockdown' that has been practiced in major cities of Punjab. It saved fuel and electricity but in turn caused a decline in manufacturing sector. This ultimately led to a decrease in monthly revenue.
Furthermore, it is observed that a happy worker is more likely to show up to work daily but on a broader scale if we provide an extra day off to all employees then it will cause more harm than good. Moreover, multinational companies have to operate 24/7, so extra leaves can create a serious problem for them. The company i worked in introduced a policy that grants everyone an extra leave per week. This resulted in empty work slots and ultimately forced the company to abolish the grant.
In conclusion, it is widely argued that there should be more offs and less working days in a week. Although it provides individual benefits and saves energy cosumption, it proves to be more bad than good in a broader sense. I believe that adequately balanced weekends are more beneficial and there is no need to expand them.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.5 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5
Your position is clear from the opening: you believe two days off are sufficient, and the conclusion restates that longer weekends would do “more bad than good.” You address both potential benefits and drawbacks, including well-being, energy use, production, and company staffing. The lockdown example and your workplace experience make the argument relevant. However, some points are asserted more than explained: for instance, the link between an extra day off and reduced manufacturing revenue could be clarified, and the claim that multinational companies operate 24/7 does not fully show why a shorter working week is unworkable. The response already has a clear stance and relevant support; more precise explanation and development of each example would make the case more convincing.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response has a recognisable structure, moving from your position to arguments and examples, then to a conclusion. Paragraphing helps separate the discussion, and signposts such as “Furthermore,” “Moreover,” and “In conclusion” make the progression easy to follow. However, some connections feel mechanical or unclear. The opening of the second paragraph shifts to the opposing view (“Advocates of this idea contend”) before your rebuttal, and the relationship between energy savings and slower production could be signalled more explicitly. The final paragraph repeats the central position without adding much synthesis. Use clearer topic sentences to show each paragraph’s main purpose, and connect examples directly to the claim they support; this would make cohesion more natural and progression more consistent.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “productivity,” “mental well-being,” “energy consumption,” “workflow,” and “manufacturing sector.” Phrases such as “double-edged sword” show an attempt to use less common language, and the meaning is generally clear. Some choices are imprecise or unnatural, however: “two offs,” “extra leaves,” and “empty work slots” do not express the ideas idiomatically, while “more bad than good” is informal and awkward in this context. There are also spelling slips, including “cosumption.” Aim for accurate collocations and a consistent formal register, especially when discussing leave and staffing. More precise vocabulary would help you express the argument with greater flexibility without changing its meaning.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5
You use a mix of simple and complex structures, including contrast clauses (“Although it saves usage of resources…”) and conditional phrasing (“if we provide an extra day off…”). Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, and the errors do not usually obstruct understanding. Some grammatical inaccuracies remain. For example, “Advocates of this idea contend that, providing…” has an unnecessary comma and an awkward clause structure; “the company i worked in” needs a capitalised pronoun and a more suitable relative construction; and “it will cause more harm” shifts tense within a general argument. Article and punctuation control also needs attention in phrases such as “decline in manufacturing sector.” Review sentence boundaries, tense consistency, and article use while retaining your attempts at complex sentences.
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