Long Working Hours and Little Leisure Time

6 Sample Responses · Bands 6.5–7.0

Many people work long hours, leaving very little time for leisure activities. Does this situation have more advantages or more disadvantages? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

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Sample responses and feedback

Response 01

Must fixSuggested

In the modern world, working longer hours is becoming prevalent, especially among younger people who often lack free time for various reasons. While there may be some positive aspects to this situation, a number of drawbacks could be listed and both will be covered in this essay.

To start with, people who work more may grow more self-assured as their social and professional abilities improve. For example, employees who work longer hours at a company grow into strong, independent individuals as a result of acquiring experience, which boosts their confidence and opens up more career options. Also, by not wasting time on hobbies, people may feel more like they are using their time wisely. Their sense of confidence usually increases as a result.

However, there are several drawbacks to extended work hours. First of all, fatigue from lengthened workdays is likely to occur. Their mental health is badly impacted by this circumstance. Further, after working for extended periods of time, people become tired, which can lead to numerous mistakes in their work. For instance, if doctors worked long shifts all the time, they would become so tired that they would misdiagnose illnesses. It was therefore stated that engaging in leisure activities is essential for mental relaxation, which lowers mistake rates.

All in all, although working long hours may have certain benefits, the drawbacks of not being able to relax clearly exceed these benefits. It follows that everyone needs to manage their workload adequately.

Score details

Response 01
Estimated band6.5/ 9

Overall assessment

The response presents a clear position that disadvantages outweigh advantages and supports it with relevant examples, such as fatigued doctors, showing its strongest aspect in task coverage. The main limitation is repetitive and unevenly developed ideas, particularly the second advantage, alongside slightly short length and occasional awkward phrasing.

TR

Task Response

The response addresses both sides of the question, states a clear position that disadvantages outweigh advantages, and gives relevant examples, though the second advantage is thinly developed and the response falls just short of the 250-word minimum.

6.5
CC

Coherence and Cohesion

The essay is logically organised into paragraphs with appropriate linking devices and a coherent conclusion, but some progression is mechanical and one point repeats rather than advances the argument.

6.5
LR

Lexical Resource

Vocabulary is generally adequate and appropriately formal, with phrases like 'self-assured' and 'manage their workload adequately', but it is sometimes imprecise or repetitive, such as repeated references to confidence and fatigue.

6.5
GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence forms with mostly accurate control, including conditionals and relative clauses, though some constructions are awkward or strained, such as 'lengthened workdays' and 'It was therefore stated'.

6.5

What to work on next

Develop each main idea more fully with distinct supporting detail rather than restating the same point, and extend the response past the 250-word minimum.

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Part 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write at least 250 words.

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