Are Four-Day Work Weeks Realistic for Most Industries?
A complete IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 question with a model answer of 296 words, plus a breakdown of the sentence structures, cohesive devices and vocabulary that answer uses. Write your own version first, then compare.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS
Score my answer to this questionThe question
You have 40 minutes. Write at least 250 words.
Some companies and governments have begun trialling a four-day working week, while keeping pay unchanged. Are four-day work weeks a realistic option for most industries, or are they only suitable for a limited number of sectors? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
How to approach it
- 01Answer the question directly in your introduction — state your position
- 02Use named pilots (Iceland, UK 2022) to ground your argument in evidence
- 03Distinguish between knowledge work and shift-based industries
- 04Avoid blanket claims — concede the strongest counter-argument
- 05Use cohesive devices: 'with some justification', 'in my view', 'a pragmatic approach'
- 06End with a conclusion that sharpens, not just repeats, your position
Model answer
296 words in 5 paragraphs. Read it after you have written your own, not before: the point of a model answer is to show you what you missed, and you cannot miss anything you have not attempted.
Pilot schemes in Iceland, the United Kingdom and Japan have reopened the debate over whether the standard five-day work week is still fit for purpose. While I accept that a four-day model offers clear gains in well-being and productivity, I believe it is realistic only for a sub-set of industries, and that broader adoption will require significant structural change.
Proponents argue, with some justification, that shorter weeks raise productivity rather than lower it. The 2022 UK trial involving over sixty firms reported that revenue held steady or improved at the majority of participating companies, while burnout and resignations fell. Knowledge-based sectors such as software development, marketing and professional services are well placed to capture these gains, because output is measured in deliverables rather than hours, and rest reliably improves the quality of complex cognitive work.
However, many industries cannot easily compress their schedules. Hospitals, transport networks, manufacturing lines and emergency services rely on continuous coverage; cutting one day per worker simply transfers the burden to additional shifts or new hires, eroding the wage savings that fund the model. Retail and hospitality face a similar bind, since customer demand does not shrink to fit a shorter staff week. For these sectors, the more realistic reform is better rostering, paid overtime and predictable hours rather than a blanket four-day rule.
In my view, governments should encourage four-day weeks where evidence supports them and resist treating the model as a universal solution. A pragmatic approach would combine sector-specific trials, tax incentives for firms that reduce hours without cutting pay, and stronger protections for shift workers whose roles cannot be condensed.
In conclusion, a four-day week is realistic for knowledge industries but not yet for the wider economy, and policy should reflect that distinction rather than impose a single template.
What this answer actually does
Measured from the text above, and compared against the other 69 answers of the same type in this library. These are counts, not band scores: they describe what the writing does, which is the part you can copy.
5 more than the median answer for this task type
8 words at the shortest, 36 at the longest
2 more than the median answer for this task type
carry a subordinate or relative clause
Sentence rhythm
Sentences average 24.7 words and vary by 8.2 words either side of that, running from 8 words to 36. Variation is the point. Grammatical Range and Accuracy rewards a mix of simple and complex sentences, and an answer where every sentence is the same length reads as flat no matter how correct it is. 9 of the 12 sentences here carry a subordinate or relative clause.
The cohesive devices it uses
8 in total, spread across 4 different functions. Range matters more than count: an answer that opens every paragraph with a sequencer signals its structure but never signals a relationship between ideas, and Coherence and Cohesion is marked on both.
however, while, yet
because, since
such as
in conclusion
Vocabulary and repetition
Ignoring grammar words, 85 per cent of the content words in this answer are distinct, and 75 per cent appear exactly once. Lexical Resource is where repetition costs the most marks, and the usual cause is not a small vocabulary but reaching for the same noun every time the topic is named.
The longest run of words copied straight from the question is 2 words. Examiners discount wording lifted from the question, so a short run here is the right outcome: the answer restates the topic in its own words rather than borrowing the question's.
What you are marked on
All four criteria carry equal weight, and your Writing band is their average rounded to the nearest half band.
Task Response
Address the question fully with a clear, sustained position
Coherence & Cohesion
Logical progression with effective paragraph signposting
Lexical Resource
Topic-specific vocabulary for labour, productivity and policy
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Range of complex structures with high accuracy
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