Prompt
Agree or disagree – Remote work
Some people believe working from home is beneficial for employees and employers, while others think it causes more problems than it solves. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Band 9 sample answer
Band 9 sample answer
Sentence-by-sentence analysis
Anatomy of a Band 9 Essay
Read the model answer normally, or switch on the examiner breakdown to see how each sentence contributes to the response.
Analysed against the four IELTS Writing assessment criteria. Each note explains how this specific sentence supports the essay.
Paragraph 1: Introduction — defines the debate and gives a qualified positive judgement
Working from home has expanded rapidly, and people disagree about whether it mainly helps or harms modern organisations. Supporters argue it benefits both staff and companies through flexibility and cost savings, whereas opponents claim it undermines collaboration and accountability. In my view, remote work is overall advantageous, but only when it is designed around roles and supported by strong management practices.
The opening introduces the issue naturally through “helps or harms modern organisations”, avoiding a mechanical repetition of the wording in the question.
Both sides are previewed in balanced grammatical form, with “whereas” making the central contrast between flexibility and organisational coordination explicit.
The opinion is clear rather than neutral: remote work is beneficial overall. The qualification also gives the essay a precise line of argument to sustain.
Paragraph 2: Body 1 — develops benefits for employees and employers
Those in favour highlight clear gains for employees. Eliminating the daily commute can free up hours each week, reduce stress and allow people to organise their day around periods of peak concentration. This is particularly helpful for parents or carers who need predictable routines. Employers can also profit: smaller offices mean lower rent and utility bills, and hiring is no longer limited to one city, which often improves the quality of applicants and reduces turnover.
This short topic sentence establishes the first viewpoint and initially narrows the focus to employees, allowing the paragraph to develop in a controlled sequence.
The benefit is developed causally rather than asserted: removing commuting creates usable time, reduces stress and permits work to be aligned with periods of stronger concentration.
“This” refers cleanly to the flexibility just explained, while the parent/carer example makes the preceding general benefit more concrete without becoming anecdotal.
The paragraph broadens logically from employees to employers. The colon and relative clause allow cost savings, recruitment reach and retention to be connected in one controlled complex sentence.
Paragraph 3: Body 2 — develops the operational and personal drawbacks
Nevertheless, home working can create significant problems. Teamwork may become slower because quick, informal conversations are replaced by scheduled calls, and new recruits can find it difficult to learn workplace norms without face-to-face guidance. Some workers also struggle to “switch off”, leading to longer hours and burnout. From a business perspective, supervising performance is harder when managers rely on visibility rather than results, and there are genuine risks around data security and uneven home working conditions.
“Nevertheless” makes the shift to the opposing view explicit, and the concise topic sentence prepares the reader for several distinct disadvantages.
The sentence develops two collaboration problems with clear mechanisms: routine coordination becomes less spontaneous, while inexperienced staff lose opportunities for informal learning.
The natural collocation “switch off” captures the blurred boundary between work and home, while “leading to” efficiently links that problem to overwork and burnout.
The paragraph returns to employers and distinguishes weak management practice from structural risks, giving the opposing case broader development than a single complaint about communication.
Paragraph 4: Conclusion — explains how the drawbacks can be managed and confirms the judgement
I believe these drawbacks are manageable. A hybrid model with regular in-person days, clear deliverables, and investment in secure systems can preserve collaboration while retaining flexibility. Therefore, remote work solves more problems than it creates when companies implement it deliberately rather than treating it as a one-size-fits-all policy.
This directly evaluates the disadvantages rather than ignoring them, preserving the essay’s original judgement that remote work remains advantageous overall.
The solution responds specifically to the drawbacks already identified: in-person days support collaboration, deliverables improve accountability and secure systems address data risks.
“Therefore” draws a genuine conclusion from the preceding evaluation, while the final qualification keeps the argument realistic rather than claiming that remote work suits every role.
Verified word count: 266
Analysis by IELTS Master editorial review. How this analysis is created and reviewed
Useful vocabulary and phrases
eliminating the daily commute
Natural, topic-specific phrasing that supports a clear benefit.
Eliminating the daily commute can reduce stress and free up time.
lower rent and utility bills
Concrete employer advantage; specific and credible.
Smaller offices mean lower rent and utility bills for employers.
limited to one city
Shows awareness of labour-market impacts; precise.
Hiring is no longer limited to one city under remote arrangements.
workplace norms
Accurate term for culture/induction issues.
New recruits may struggle to learn workplace norms remotely.
clear deliverables
Strong academic business term; supports solution focus.
Clear deliverables help managers assess performance fairly.
one-size-fits-all policy
Natural idiom in formal writing; adds sophistication.
Remote work fails when treated as a one-size-fits-all policy.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Discussing only employees or only employers; the prompt implies both.
- Writing two lists (pros/cons) without developing explanations or examples.
- Giving an opinion only in the conclusion; state your position clearly in the introduction.
- Overusing informal terms (e.g., "bosses", "loads of") instead of academic wording.
- Claiming remote work always increases productivity; use cautious, realistic language.
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