By English Test Coach · Updated
Task 2 · Three original work questions
IELTS work essay topics: compare the arrangement the question actually proposes
“Flexible work” is too broad to carry an essay by itself. Working at home, compressing a week and extending a career change different things. Define the arrangement first, then explain who benefits, what becomes harder and why your judgement follows.
These original questions, hypothetical examples and annotated answers are English Test Coach teaching material. They are not exam predictions, recalled questions or examiner-scored scripts.
Location, weekly schedule and career length are different decisions
Remote work and society: where the work happens
In many countries, working from home is becoming increasingly common. Do the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages?
Keep the scope clear: Working from home changes location. It does not necessarily change contracted hours, pay or the amount of work. Weigh reduced travel and wider access against the coordination and support the job needs.
Required judgement: Decide whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
Working four longer days: how the same weekly hours are distributed
Some employers allow staff to complete the same weekly working hours over four longer days instead of five shorter days. Do the advantages of this arrangement outweigh the disadvantages?
Keep the scope clear: Four longer days replace five shorter days. The weekly total stays the same. A full free weekday and one fewer commute may help, but longer working days can create different pressures.
Required judgement: Weigh the arrangement as stated, without turning it into a reduction in weekly hours.
A longer working life: how long people remain in working life
In some countries, people are expected to work until a later age than in the past. What are the reasons for this change, and do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
Keep the scope clear: A later working age affects career length. Explain possible reasons for the change, then weigh the benefits and costs. The experience and circumstances of workers in different roles may differ.
Required judgement: Answer both parts: reasons for the change and whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
All three questions require a supported judgement. The later-working-age question also asks for reasons, so a plan containing only benefits and drawbacks would miss part of the instruction. Compare the reasons-and-evaluation planning example before drafting it.
A compressed week does not automatically mean less work
The four-day question explicitly keeps weekly hours unchanged. For an illustrative 40-hour week, five eight-hour days and four ten-hour days both total 40 hours. The question itself does not specify a total; the calculation simply shows the distinction.
A supported line of argument
One full weekday away from work could make a long appointment or a course easier to arrange. One fewer commute could save travel time. These benefits come from the shape of the week, even though total working time stays constant.
A claim that changes the proposal
“Employees work eight fewer hours and receive the same salary” introduces a reduced-hours policy. Neither a fall in weekly hours nor a salary guarantee appears in this question. That argument would need a different prompt.
Longer days also mean less time before or after work on those days. A learner might reasonably favour the full weekday off, while another writer could judge the longer daily schedule more disruptive. Explain the consequence that matters; do not treat the number four as a benefit on its own.
Weigh consequences for a specific arrangement
Listing three advantages and two disadvantages does not establish which side is stronger. Compare the significance of the consequences and whether a workable condition can reduce a serious drawback.
- Benefit: identify what becomes easier, for whom and through what change.
- Cost: explain a concrete conflict rather than saying the arrangement is “inconvenient”.
- Response: describe a relevant adjustment, then check what it does and does not solve.
- Judgement: say where the advantage remains stronger after considering that limit.
An original example: keeping a service available
“A four-day schedule could leave customers without help if every employee takes Friday off. Staggering non-working days would allow a team to remain open across the week, so the scheduling benefit need not require a complete Friday closure. However, fewer staff would be available on some days. The arrangement is therefore more convincing where the team can still cover its workload than where every role must be filled throughout the opening hours.”
The response addresses closure, but does not pretend that staggered days create extra staff. That remaining limit gives the judgement a basis. You can support a different overall view if your reasons consistently lead to it.
Do not transfer the same remedy to every work question
Staggered days address weekly coverage. They do not directly solve a new remote employee’s difficulty getting help with an unfamiliar task. For that problem, a named mentor and an agreed way to ask short questions would address the mechanism more closely.
Likewise, removing a commute does not guarantee greater output or uninterrupted time at home. Explain which barrier disappears and which responsibilities remain. The advantages-and-disadvantages guide develops the difference between listing points and weighing consequences.
For later working lives, separate explanation from evaluation
A reason why a change happens is not automatically an argument that it is desirable. For example, a need for continued income could explain why someone remains in work; that does not by itself show that a higher expected working age benefits everyone.
The reasons paragraph
Develop plausible pressures at the relevant level: a system facing a longer period of retirement to fund, or an individual who wants continued earnings and routine. Explain the connection without inventing national figures or presenting one motivation as universal.
The evaluation paragraph
Compare benefits such as retaining experience with difficulties faced by people whose duties or circumstances make continued work harder. Explain whether adapted duties or a gradual transition change your judgement, and where their usefulness ends.
Do not equate “older workers have experience” with “every older worker should remain in the same role”. The first is a possible benefit; the second is a much broader policy claim. The complete later-careers essay gives one qualified judgement with distinct reasons and evaluation.
Use work vocabulary without changing the policy
- Compressed working week
- The same weekly hours distributed across fewer working days.
A compressed working week gives employees a different schedule, not necessarily a lower total workload.
- Reduced working hours
- A lower total amount of time spent working over the stated period.
Reduced weekly hours would be a different proposal from the four longer days in this question.
- Service coverage
- Staff availability during the times a service needs to operate.
A scheduling trial needs enough service coverage on the days when some employees are absent.
- Workload
- The amount of work a person or team needs to complete.
Changing where employees work does not necessarily reduce their workload.
- Gradual transition
- A change made through intermediate steps rather than all at once.
A gradual transition towards retirement might involve a change in duties or hours.
- Provided that
- A way to state a condition, followed by a complete clause.
A compressed week could be useful provided that the team can maintain sufficient coverage.
A condition should explain why your judgement holds. “Provided that it is good” adds no useful limit. “Provided that the team can maintain sufficient coverage” names a requirement the reader can understand.
Repair an argument that changes the question
Revise this plan for the compressed-week task: “Workers save a whole day of working time, become more productive and the business closes on Fridays. Therefore, there are no disadvantages.”
Compare a more precise plan
Keep: a whole weekday free and one fewer commute can be useful. Correct: total weekly working hours stay the same.
Develop: longer days may clash with fixed commitments, and a service still needs coverage during its opening hours. Consider staggered non-working days, while recognising their staffing limit.
Judge: decide whether the schedule’s benefits outweigh those pressures in the kinds of roles you discuss. Do not assume higher productivity or remove every drawback by assertion.
Read the complete compressed-week essay after making your own plan. Compare how it preserves the same-hours condition and connects the conclusion to the body.
- Have you identified what changes and what stays the same?
- Does each benefit or drawback belong to this arrangement?
- Do proposed responses address the specific problem?
- Have you answered every requested part, including reasons where required?
- Does the conclusion explain why one side outweighs the other?
Use the answer-the-question lesson for a shorter check of instruction and scope.
Turn one work question into your own essay
Plan the exact arrangement and the required judgement, then write at least 250 words in about 40 minutes. Public AI assessment is paused; the free workspace provides a planner, timer and word count without an account. The rule-based demo is not an AI score.