Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-03

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Many working people get little or no exercise either during the working day or in their free time, and have health problems as a result.

Why do many working people not get enough exercise?

What can be done about this problem?

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

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

As everybody is busy with their work or studies these days, they rarely spend time on exercise which results in severe health-related implications. I believe the major reasons are project deadlines and workplace closing hours. However, several actions can be taken to mitigate this growing issue, such as establishing and following a strict schedule for exercise or utilising days off effectively.

To begin with, the main underlying reason is the burden of multiple tasks at work. It has been noticed that people working more hours do not get enough sleep, and this causes serious health problems. For instance, an individual from a middle-class family acquires an abundance of responsibilities. He is worried about his struggling career, wedding and family. While fighting with all this, he has to focus more on work to enhance productivity and gain profit for the company. These led to limited time for himself to perform any sport or other activity.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response addresses the prompt only partially, mainly due to a severe issue with length. The student has written a response containing only 154 words, which falls significantly short of the required 250-word minimum. Because of this, the task cannot be fully completed. While the introduction touches upon why people lack exercise and suggests solutions like scheduling, the body paragraph only manages to discuss the reasons for lack of exercise, specifically focusing on project deadlines and heavy workloads, while failing to address the second part of the prompt regarding what can be done about this problem in any developed detail. The ideas presented are somewhat limited and under-developed, and the underdeveloped conclusion prevents the response from achieving a higher band score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text demonstrates some organisation, with an introduction and a beginning of a body paragraph, though it cuts off abruptly. There is a discernible attempt to sequence ideas logically, starting with general background and moving into specific reasons. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To begin with' and 'For instance', but referencing is not always clear, as seen in the sentence 'These led to limited time', where the plural pronoun lacks a precise singular antecedent. Paragraphing is initiated, but the essay lacks overall progression due to its incomplete nature. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to ensure a complete logical structure with fully developed body paragraphs and seamless, flexible cohesion throughout the entire essay.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, showing an attempt to use less common items and phrasing such as 'health-related implications', 'strict schedule', and 'abundance of responsibilities'. However, there are some word-choice and collocation issues, such as 'workplace closing hours' instead of 'long working hours' or 'late shifts', and 'fighting with all this' rather than 'coping with these pressures'. These inaccuracies do not heavily impede communication, placing the lexical range firmly at this level. To reach the next band, the writer should incorporate a wider, more flexible range of precise, less common vocabulary with fewer lapses in collocation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The writing reveals a satisfactory mix of simple and complex sentence forms, as demonstrated by structures like 'As everybody is busy with their work or studies these days, they rarely spend time...'. There are some errors in grammar, such as agreement issues in 'These led to limited time' instead of 'This led', but these errors rarely impede communication and the majority of basic sentences are well-formed. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to demonstrate a greater variety of complex structures with frequent error-free sentences and tighter control over subject-verb agreement and punctuation.

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

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