User-written IELTS example
Writing Academic Task 2 Band 7.0 Example
Original task prompt, user essay, band score, and related examples in the same report workspace.
Illustrative target band for this original model answer.
Plan your answer
Try your own response before reading the samples.
Ideas to explore
- A longer weekend can provide time for rest, relationships, childcare, and personal interests.
- Reducing unnecessary meetings and clarifying priorities may help teams use working hours more efficiently.
- Continuous-staffing workplaces may need staggered shifts or a trial period to protect service coverage.
Suggested structure
- Introduce the proposal in your own words and state your position clearly.
- Explain how a shorter week could benefit workers’ wellbeing and personal responsibilities.
- Show how employers might benefit through more focused working practices.
- Acknowledge a practical limitation, such as the need for continuous staffing, and suggest a feasible response.
- Conclude by restating your position with the condition that implementation should be planned.
Useful vocabulary & examples
- adequate recovery
- enough time to rest and regain energy
Adequate recovery may help employees return to work with better focus.
- operational coverage
- having enough staff available to keep a service or workplace functioning
Careful shift planning can maintain operational coverage during a shorter week.
- workload compression
- fitting the same amount of work into a shorter period
Workload compression could increase pressure if tasks are not prioritised.
- staggered shifts
- work schedules arranged at different times so staff coverage is maintained
Staggered shifts may help a service operate throughout the week.
Task Prompt
User Essay Analysis
Review the public answer with report-style highlights.
It is argued that there should be fewer working days and more weekdays. This essay strongly disagrees with this idea, as such a trend could lead to various issues in terms of civil and economic factors. Firstly, there are workers whose roles are vital to the public. Doctors, for instance, are particularly essential. In certain settings, continuous coverage is essential.
More time away from work can make it easier to manage responsibilities outside employment. A worker may use an additional free day for family, appointments or an activity that is difficult to fit into an ordinary week. This matters because rest is not the only use of time off. A predictable schedule also allows people to plan instead of constantly rearranging other commitments around work.
There may be benefits for the employer when work is organised more carefully. Meetings that add little value can be reduced and tasks can be prioritised. Employees who have adequate time to recover may approach demanding work with greater attention. However, these are possible effects, not proof that every workplace will produce the same output in fewer hours. The design of the job and the workload remain important.
A major difficulty is that some services require continuous coverage. A hospital or transport service cannot simply close for an extra day. Shorter individual schedules may require rotating teams or additional staff, with associated costs. There is also a risk that the same amount of work is compressed into longer, more exhausting days, leaving the employee with a nominal benefit and a practical burden.
For these reasons, I favour carefully planned changes rather than a universal immediate rule. Employers should examine coverage, pay and actual workload, and assess whether a trial improves conditions. A longer weekend should not be achieved by unpaid overtime or by shifting unreasonable work onto colleagues. Where these safeguards are possible, the extra personal time is a worthwhile objective.
In conclusion, I oppose a universal reduction of the working week. Extra time off can help employees, but coverage, income and workload should be assessed before changing schedules.
Targeted Improvement Tips
Related examples for this topic
Compare different bands on the same IELTS prompt.
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