Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries, primary and secondary schools close for two months or more in the summer holidays.

What is the value of long school holidays?

What are the arguments in favour of shorter school holidays?

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In various regions, academic sessions are closed in educational institutes for primary and secondary students for two or more months during summer vacations. Therefore, this essay will discuss the importances of long holidays as well as the about the benefits of shorter holidays.

On the one side, long vacation provides time to learn other skills for students. During long vacations, parents encourage their children to join one of the classes for other activity such as dancing, swimming, skating, sketching and playing guitar and many more, which ultimately develop new skill in students. For example, my nephew is good at playing guitar because of joining guitar classes in the vacations.

On the other side, shorter school vacations are like a relaxation or a break for students after exams. They join back school by rejuvenating themselves in the short vacation by going on a trip with their family. For instance, in today's newspaper I read a article stated that people who often goes for trip are more focused and complete their task before time compared to people who just spent their vacations in sleeping and eating. In addition, shorter school holidays build strong bond between parents and children as they get time to spend with each others.

In conclusion, children learns a new skills on long vacations and also relax themseles during shorter holidays by going on short trip with parents.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both questions: the first body paragraph explains that long holidays allow students to develop skills, while the second gives reasons for shorter breaks, including rest, family trips and time with parents. The guitar-class example supports the first point, but the value of long holidays is otherwise narrow, and the benefits of shorter holidays are not fully explained. The newspaper example is difficult to assess because its connection to shorter school breaks is not made explicit. Your conclusion repeats the main points rather than adding a clear overall judgement. The response is 21 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop and support your ideas. Explain each benefit more fully and add a relevant example for shorter holidays.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two sides of the question, and a conclusion. The signposting phrases “On the one side” and “On the other side” help readers follow the contrast, and examples are placed with the relevant points. However, some links feel mechanical, and the relationship between the newspaper report and shorter holidays is not clear. The final sentence also compresses both arguments into one summary without showing how they connect. Use transitions that express the actual relationship between ideas, and make references explicit—for example, explain how a short break can improve students’ focus when they return to school.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “academic sessions,” “rejuvenating,” “focused,” and “strong bond.” The examples of activities also give the discussion some specificity. However, several word choices and collocations are unnatural or imprecise, such as “the importances,” “join one of the classes for other activity,” and “build strong bond.” Some wording is repetitive, particularly “vacations” and “shorter school holidays,” and the spelling error “themselves” as “themseles” is noticeable. Aim for more natural combinations and vary repeated terms; for instance, use “develop new skills,” “enrol in an activity class,” and “strengthen family relationships.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a relative clause in “activities … which ultimately develop new skill” and a comparison in the newspaper example. Meaning is generally understandable, but some errors occur in agreement, articles, plurals and verb forms. For example, “people who often goes” should be “people who often go,” and “children learns a new skills” should be “children learn new skills.” In “I read a article stated,” the article and clause structure need correction, such as “I read an article stating that…”. The opening sentence is also awkwardly constructed. Check subject–verb agreement and article use, and practise building complex sentences accurately before adding further clauses.

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