Working From Home Permanently · Advantages and Disadvantages
A complete IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 question with a model answer of 287 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 now allow their employees to work from home permanently, with no requirement to attend a physical office. Do the advantages of this trend outweigh the disadvantages? Write at least 250 words.
How to approach it
- 01Read the prompt carefully — 'Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?' requires a weighted opinion, not a neutral discussion
- 02Paraphrase the prompt in your introduction and state your overall position immediately
- 03Devote one body paragraph to advantages and one to disadvantages — keep them balanced in length and depth
- 04Develop each point with explanation and a concrete example rather than listing many shallow ideas
- 05Do not confuse this with a 'discuss both views' essay — here you are weighing benefits versus drawbacks, not opposing opinions
- 06End with a clear weighted conclusion that reaffirms whether advantages or disadvantages dominate
Model answer
287 words in 4 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.
In recent years, a growing number of companies have moved beyond hybrid arrangements and now allow staff to work from home on a fully permanent basis. While this development brings clear benefits, I believe its drawbacks ultimately outweigh them, particularly for younger workers and team cohesion.
There are two main advantages to permanent home working. The first is the considerable time and cost saving for employees, who no longer face long, expensive commutes and can spend the recovered hours on family, exercise, or rest. A worker in London, for example, may reclaim two hours and twenty pounds every weekday simply by avoiding the office. The second benefit is widened access to opportunity: a software engineer in a small town can now apply for jobs at firms headquartered hundreds of miles away, while disabled employees or parents of young children can participate in work that an office-based model would effectively exclude them from.
However, the disadvantages are equally significant. The most serious is the long-term effect on professional development. Junior staff who never share a physical space with senior colleagues miss countless opportunities to learn through observation, informal mentoring, and overheard conversations, which can stall their careers. A further drawback is the weakening of team cohesion; spontaneous collaboration, quick problem-solving, and genuine personal relationships are harder to build over video calls. Many fully remote workers also report a creeping sense of isolation and a blurring of boundaries between professional and personal life, with negative effects on mental health.
In conclusion, although permanent home working offers real gains in flexibility and inclusion, the costs to learning, teamwork, and wellbeing are substantial. On balance, the disadvantages slightly outweigh the advantages, which is why hybrid models remain preferable for most organisations.
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.
4 fewer than the median answer for this task type
6 words at the shortest, 48 at the longest
3 more than the median answer for this task type
carry a subordinate or relative clause
Sentence rhythm
Sentences average 22.1 words and vary by 10.4 words either side of that, running from 6 words to 48. 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. 6 of the 13 sentences here carry a subordinate or relative clause.
The cohesive devices it uses
9 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.
although, however, while
which is why
for example
in conclusion, on balance, ultimately
Vocabulary and repetition
Ignoring grammar words, 88 per cent of the content words in this answer are distinct, and 77 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 4 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 both advantages and disadvantages with developed support, and give a clear weighted opinion as the prompt requires.
Coherence & Cohesion
Use a clean four-paragraph structure with one paragraph each for advantages and disadvantages, linked by clear contrast markers.
Lexical Resource
Use precise vocabulary for the workplace, lifestyle, and balanced evaluation, including hedging language.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Use a range of complex structures including concessive clauses, comparatives, and conditional forms with accuracy.
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