IELTS Task 2: Working from Home — Sample Answer and Feedback

An IELTS Writing Task 2 essay about working from home needs more than a list of benefits and problems. Explain how each effect occurs, give a relevant example, and answer the exact question. This guide shows one way to do that.

The question, essay, and commentary below are original, AI-assisted teaching examples prepared for Morexam. They are not a past IELTS question, a learner submission, or an examiner-marked script. No official or independently verified band score is claimed.

Practice question: working from home

More employees now work from home instead of travelling to a workplace each day. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this development?

Give reasons for your answer and include relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

For Academic Task 2, IELTS specifies at least 250 words and about 40 minutes. Read the official writing test format for the current instructions. The sample below illustrates an answer to this practice question; its structure is one option, not a required template.

Plan the answer before writing

This question asks for advantages and disadvantages. It does not ask whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Cover both sides and bring them together in the conclusion.

• Introduction: introduce home working and identify its main benefit and drawback.
• Advantage paragraph: explain how removing a commute can give employees more usable time.
• Disadvantage paragraph: explain how distance can make informal support harder to obtain.
• Conclusion: summarise the trade-off and the conditions that affect the outcome.

Choose a small number of ideas that you can explain. Three undeveloped benefits usually teach the reader less than one clear cause, example, and consequence.

Sample answer

Working from home has become an alternative to attending an office every day. This arrangement can give employees more control over their time, but it can also make communication and learning more difficult. Its value depends partly on the work involved and the support employers provide.

One important advantage is the removal of the daily commute. An employee who previously spent an hour travelling each way can use that time for rest, exercise or family responsibilities. For example, a parent may be able to take a child to school before starting work, rather than arranging additional childcare. Having fewer competing demands may help that employee begin the working day with better concentration. Employers may also benefit when staff can complete individual tasks without frequent interruptions, provided that they have a suitable place to work at home.

However, remote work can reduce access to informal advice. In an office, a new employee can ask a nearby colleague a brief question or learn by observing how experienced staff solve a problem. At home, the same person may postpone asking because arranging a call seems unnecessary for a minor issue. Small uncertainties can then delay a task or lead to avoidable mistakes. Scheduled meetings do not always replace these everyday exchanges. Employers therefore need clear ways for staff to request help, as well as time for training and discussion.

In conclusion, working from home can save time and make daily responsibilities easier to manage, while also creating barriers to communication and development. It is likely to work better when employees have an appropriate home environment and employers make support easy to access. Without these conditions, the convenience of staying at home may come at the cost of effective teamwork.

How to assess this answer against the four criteria

IELTS uses Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy for Task 2. See the official assessment criteria and band descriptors. The observations here explain evidence in this sample; they are not a scored Morexam report or a prediction of your result.

Task Response: explain the effect, not just the topic

The essay addresses both parts of the question. The advantage paragraph moves from less travel to more usable time, then to a childcare example and a possible benefit for concentration. The disadvantage paragraph explains why a new employee might delay asking for help and what could happen next.

One useful revision would be to connect the final sentence of the advantage paragraph more closely to commuting. It introduces interruptions as a second benefit without explaining it as fully. Removing it would keep the paragraph focused; expanding it would require more supporting detail.

Coherence and Cohesion: make each paragraph do one job

The main paragraphs have separate purposes. The second develops time savings; the third develops reduced access to advice. References such as “that time” and “the same person” connect the examples to the preceding sentences.

The conclusion returns to both effects without adding a new argument. When checking your own draft, read only the topic sentences and conclusion first. You should still be able to follow the main argument.

Lexical Resource: choose precise words

Phrases such as “daily commute”, “informal advice”, and “competing demands” name specific parts of the argument. They are more informative than repeatedly describing home working as “good” or “bad”.

Vocabulary works because it conveys the intended meaning. Replacing ordinary words with unfamiliar alternatives can introduce errors. Keep a phrase only if you can explain what it means in that sentence.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: use structure to show relationships

The sample combines shorter statements with clauses that express conditions and contrast. For example, “provided that they have a suitable place to work at home” limits the claim about completing individual tasks.

Check whether long sentences remain easy to follow. A shorter, accurate sentence is useful when it makes the cause or consequence clearer. Adding clauses alone does not demonstrate effective control.

Sentence revisions: before, after, and why

These separate teaching examples show common problems. The “before” sentences are not quotations from the sample essay above.

1. Replace a broad claim with a clear mechanism

Before: Working from home is good because people have more time.

After: Removing a daily commute gives employees more time for rest or family responsibilities.

Why: The revision identifies where the time comes from and how it can be used. Follow it with an example rather than another general claim.

2. Correct agreement and explain the consequence

Before: A new employee do not get help quickly, which make problems.

After: A new employee may not receive help quickly, which can delay the task.

Why: “May not receive” avoids the incorrect agreement in “do not”. “Can delay the task” states a consequence and avoids claiming that delays always happen.

3. Avoid an absolute conclusion

Before: Therefore, everyone should work from home.

After: Home working is more practical when the job allows independent work and support remains available.

Why: The revision sets conditions for the claim. In this advantages-and-disadvantages essay, the conclusion should also summarise the drawback rather than become a new recommendation.

Write your own response

1. Set aside about 40 minutes and write at least 250 words without copying the sample.
2. Explain one advantage and one disadvantage using your own examples.
3. Check that each body paragraph contains a cause, an example, and a consequence.
4. Revise one weak explanation before changing individual words.

Open the IELTS writing practice workspace, select Academic Task 2 and Custom Topic, then enter the complete question above. The link opens the workspace; it does not insert the question or submit an evaluation. Sign in to save your draft. Creating and saving a draft does not use credits; a new evaluation requires one credit.

Before submitting, explore the IELTS Task 2 report example. It uses a different essay and shows how feedback is presented. Read how to use Morexam for writing evaluation for the complete workflow, or return to the IELTS writing checker overview.

Morexam scores are AI practice estimates, not official IELTS results. Use feedback to choose a revision goal, not as a guarantee of a test-day band.