Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-13

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Nowadays many large international companies offer their staff the opportunity to spend a period of time living and working in another country.

Why might this opportunity be good for employees?

What advantages does this development have for companies?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In today’s world, a lot of companies are offering working from home opportunities to their staff. A primary reason behind this setting is providing flexibility and work-life balance, while companies also reduce office expense. This essay will discuss primary benefits for employees such as flexibility and more time to spent with familiy, while companies also saves upon utility bill.

On one hand, the primary reason for giving an employee work from anywhere policy is flexibility. Employee’s can balance their working schedule and family duties at the same time. It also significantly boost productivity while reduces travel time to office. Immigrants who are desperate to spend time with their friends and family could significantly benefit from it. Working professional’s can devote more time with their children and parents, which eventually boost morale and productivity levels. They can join any physical activity classes which helps to stay them physically and mentally productive. For instance, a recent study published by the Oxford University stated that employee who are eligible to work from anywhere are more loyal and commit more years at the company than others.

On the other hand, companies are moving towards hybrid arrangement policy. They are sharing office space with other companies to reduce rent and fixed cost such as water and electricity bill. Working from anywhere policy also save significant traveling time. At present, companies are helping the environment to reduce emissions by saving scope 1 emission of traveling. Governments are also encouraging companies to shift towards remote working policy. Working professional’s from SouthAsian countries preffer to visit home country around winter time, to avoid lonelyness and depressive environment due to snow and early sunset timing, which could be improved by encouraging people to work from home and stay productive.

To conclude, companies such as Google, Facebook, Tesla are promoting staff to work from another country opportunity to reduce fixed cost and boost concentration and productivity level. In near future other companies will follow this arrangement too.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing why the opportunity is beneficial for employees and the advantages for companies. However, there is a significant misunderstanding of the prompt's core premise: the student repeatedly discusses 'working from home' and 'working from anywhere' rather than the specific scenario outlined in the prompt of living and working in another country. For example, in the introduction, the writer states 'a lot of companies are offering working from home opportunities.' Despite this misinterpretation of the topic, ideas regarding employee flexibility, productivity, and company cost-reduction are presented and supported with examples, such as the reference to Oxford University. Overall, the task is addressed, but the deviation into general remote work pulls down the score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is divided into four paragraphs, including an introduction and conclusion. There is an attempt to create a logical structure using transitional markers such as 'On one hand' and 'On the other hand.' However, paragraphing and cohesion are sometimes faulty. For example, the body paragraphs mix disparate ideas together, shifting abruptly from employee mental health to university studies, and then to company rent, utility bills, and South Asian weather patterns. Additionally, referencing is occasionally unclear, and cohesive devices are used mechanically rather than flexibly. Progression within paragraphs is disrupted by these sudden topic shifts, resulting in a score that reflects an adequate overall arrangement with noticeable structural flaws.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common words and phrases such as 'work-life balance,' 'significantly boost productivity,' and 'fixed cost.' However, there are frequent inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and phrasing throughout the text. Examples include 'more time to spent with familiy' (spelling and grammatical form), 'reduces travel time to office' (missing article), 'save significant traveling time' (tense and collocation), and 'lonelyness and depressive environment' (spelling and word choice). While communication is generally maintained despite these errors, the lexical control is inconsistent and relies heavily on basic or repetitive terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors occurring across most sentences. Noticeable mistakes include subject-verb agreement issues such as 'Employee’s can balance' (unnecessary apostrophe and pluralization confusion) and 'employee who are eligible' (should be plural 'employees'). Other errors include preposition misuse, missing articles, and awkward phrasing such as 'helps to stay them physically and mentally productive.' These frequent errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, restricting the grammatical grade to the mid-range.

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