Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-08

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 6.0)

For me, as a person who doesn’t have kids, but was a kid once in my life, there is a huge value for long school holidays. Especially for kids themselves.

They spend a lot of time listening and being obedient, they need this time to explore their imagination and get in touch with their creative side. While spending enough time with their parents to get to know their kids better and engage with them more in their daily activity so they can see the impact of their time spent at school and where there must be adjustment’s in lifestyle and behavioral patterns.

Kids need longer breaks for their abilities to study and focus are recharged, they need to rest physically and mentally. They need this time to enjoy their childhood and learn skills that are obtained in the outside world, such as traveling or activities with their families.

Shorter periods are arguably also good, as a lot of parents nowadays are both working and have jobs, which makes it hard to be present and around your kids especially around the ages of 6-12 where kids need to be supervised and watched, many families don’t have the financial ability to hire people to watch their kids, which might eventually lead to frustration and marital issues and financial pressures. Long holidays for children may also result in them being chaotic and less disciplined, causing greater stress for parents to get them into routines, sleeping schedules and studying.

Lastly, I believe that this argument relays heavily on the situation of each family and a decision cannot be generalized.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both questions and maintain a clear overall view: long holidays benefit children’s rest, creativity and family relationships, while shorter breaks can help working parents and support routine. These are relevant arguments, and the discussion of supervision and childcare costs gives the second side a practical focus. However, the value of long holidays is developed more fully than the case for shorter holidays, and several claims remain broad. For example, explain how travel or family activities build particular skills, and give a concrete example of how shorter breaks could help children retain learning or ease childcare pressures. Your final point that decisions depend on each family is reasonable, but could be tied more directly to the arguments you have presented.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: it first explains the benefits of long holidays, then considers reasons for shorter ones, and ends with a qualified conclusion. Paragraphing helps distinguish these main stages, and links such as “While,” “Shorter periods” and “Lastly” guide the reader. Some connections are less clear or feel mechanical, however. The opening “Especially for kids themselves” is a fragment that interrupts the flow, while the long sentence beginning “While spending enough time with their parents” makes it difficult to see how the ideas relate. The final paragraph is also very brief and does not fully synthesise the discussion. Use clearer topic sentences and divide complex points into more manageable sentences to make progression more consistently smooth.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range to discuss the topic, including phrases such as “creative side,” “financial pressures,” “disciplined” and “behavioral patterns.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and some vocabulary is appropriately specific to family life and schooling. At times, though, wording is imprecise or collocates awkwardly: “abilities to study and focus are recharged” is not a natural expression, and “learn skills that are obtained in the outside world” is vague. “Relays heavily on the situation” also does not express the intended relationship accurately. There are some word-form and spelling-control issues, including “adjustment’s,” where no apostrophe is needed. Aim for more precise academic phrasing and check collocations and word forms during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses with “which” and “where,” and most of the meaning remains understandable. However, some sentence structures and punctuation choices reduce control. “Especially for kids themselves” is a sentence fragment, and the sentence beginning “While spending enough time with their parents” is incomplete or awkwardly attached to the preceding idea. The sentence starting “Shorter periods are arguably also good” becomes difficult to follow because several points are joined together without clear boundaries. There are also errors in grammatical patterns, such as “for their abilities to study and focus are recharged.” Work on complete sentence construction, clause boundaries and punctuation, while retaining complex structures; clearer sentence control would make your reasoning easier to follow.

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