Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-30

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)

Many people agree with the idea workers should have a longer weekend, while the working week should be shorter. I will discuss both views and draw my conclusions.

The benefits for workers have a longer weekend firstly, it effective way for workers become more productive and perform better for example, reduce working stress and concentrate in job tasks. Secondly, better for their mental health such as reduce the burn out feeling and pressure through spending their weekend with their friends or families. Moreover, it help them for making balance between personal life and work for instance, social activities like hang out with their friends, increasing family bond through spending more time with their family or childern. These are the benefits for workers have a longer weekend.

On the other hand, the main disadvantages for shorter working week and longer weekend is earning less money such as few working hours in the week this will decrease the average of monthly wages compared to longer working week. In addition, some employees will impact on their working performance through taking longer weekend for example, laziness and delay in achieving working tasks in the right time. Furthermore, some need longer working week for instance, doctors and nurses, imergency services the workers should have longer working hours for helping people during crises is hard for workers in these sectors for taking longer weekend.These are the disadvantages for workers have a longer weekend.

To sum up, even longer weekend have many benefits for workers, but I agree more the working week should not be shorter than weekend for workers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address the topic by presenting benefits of a longer weekend, then considering disadvantages, and you state a position in the conclusion. Relevant points include reduced stress, improved family time, possible effects on wages, and the needs of emergency workers. However, the response does not consistently answer the agree-or-disagree question: the opening promises to discuss “both views,” and the final position—that the working week “should not be shorter than weekend”—is difficult to interpret. Some ideas are also less developed than others; for example, the claim that longer weekends cause “laziness” is asserted without explanation or support. State your position clearly from the introduction and develop each main reason with a specific explanation or example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on benefits, a paragraph on disadvantages, and a conclusion. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” “Moreover,” and “On the other hand” help signal the direction of the discussion. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and repeated summaries such as “These are the benefits…” and “These are the disadvantages…” add little progression. Some connections between ideas are unclear, particularly the shift from reduced working hours to lower monthly wages and the point about emergency workers. Use clearer topic sentences, connect each explanation directly to its main point, and make references such as “these sectors” unambiguous. A more decisive conclusion would also help the essay feel complete.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “productive,” “mental health,” “monthly wages,” and “family bond,” so the main ideas are generally understandable. There are also attempts to use more specific expressions, such as “working performance” and “achieving working tasks,” but several combinations are unnatural or imprecise. For example, “reduce the burn out feeling” and “concentrate in job tasks” do not express the ideas idiomatically, while “laziness” is a broad label rather than a precise description of a workplace effect. Spelling errors such as “childern” and “imergency” also reduce accuracy. Build a bank of natural collocations for work, wellbeing, and productivity, and check spelling before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex forms, including examples introduced with “for instance” and a contrast beginning “On the other hand.” The overall meaning can usually be followed, but some sentence structures are incomplete or difficult to control. For example, “The benefits for workers have a longer weekend firstly, it effective way…” lacks a clear grammatical connection and a verb form; “it help them” also has a subject–verb agreement error. Articles and prepositions are sometimes missing or inaccurate, as in “concentrate in job tasks,” and punctuation does not reliably separate complete ideas. Practise building complete sentences around one main clause, then add a reason or example using a controlled subordinate clause. This will make your range clearer and reduce errors.

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

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