Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-10

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)

Primary and secondary schooling is the path where students take major decissions of their life. This period is the time, their ability to think and exploring different paths of life opens. In my opinion, long school holidays are justified.

The core reasons students go to primary and secondary schools are education, exploration, careerpath. School provides opportunities in every aspect then students decide which path to choose. Regular schooling and spending hours in same classes able students to communicate with others also exhaust their free thinking. There's always rush in completing tasks. For this they can't spend time on their sheer interest and extra curricular activities. For instance, if someone wants to be a soccer player, this summer holiday is a life changing opportunity for him to practice and take chances to play in national team.

But only schooling is not enough to explore career. Everyone gets bored after this long hour classes months after months. So sommer holidays play vital role here to overcome boredom. In this time, students go to places to explore the world. This helps them to energize their own interest. On the other hand, parents are also busy with their work. They can't provide enough time to their family in regular days. In these holidays, parents can spend more time with their children which makes the family bond stronger.

Although long summer holidays has impact on entire curriculam and schools try to finish it before the holidays. Still long holidays has more positive impacts on students rather than short school holidays.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You give a clear preference for long holidays, stating that they are “justified,” and support this with relevant points about pursuing interests, reducing boredom, exploring places, and spending time with family. However, the task asks both for the value of long holidays and for arguments in favour of shorter holidays. The response develops the first side but gives almost no case for shorter breaks; the final reference to curriculum impact is brief and does not explain why shorter holidays might help learning or school routines. Some claims, such as holidays being a chance to pursue a sports career, also need more explanation. Address both questions directly and develop each main reason with a clear explanation or example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, paragraphs explaining benefits of long holidays, and a concluding preference. Linking expressions such as “For instance,” “On the other hand,” and “Although” help signal examples and contrast. However, progression is not always clear: the discussion moves from career exploration to boredom and then family time without consistently showing how each point supports the argument. The contrast introduced by “On the other hand” is also unclear, since the sentence continues with another benefit of long holidays. The conclusion introduces curriculum impact without developing it earlier. Use topic sentences to organise distinct reasons, and make each linking phrase accurately express the relationship between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “career,” “extra curricular activities,” “overcome boredom,” and “family bond,” and the main ideas are generally understandable. There are also noticeable spelling, word-form, and collocation problems that make some phrases awkward, such as “decissions,” “careerpath,” “summer holidays” written as “sommer holidays,” and “energize their own interest.” Some expressions are imprecise, including “the path where students take major decisions” and “rush in completing tasks.” Aim for accurate, natural combinations and check spelling carefully. More precise terms such as “develop their interests,” “academic workload,” and “strengthen family relationships” would help express your points clearly and appropriately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both short statements and some longer structures, including a conditional example beginning “if someone wants to be a soccer player” and a concession introduced by “Although.” Meaning is usually recoverable, but errors in sentence construction and agreement occur across the response. For example, “Regular schooling and spending hours in same classes able students” lacks a clear grammatical structure, while “long summer holidays has impact” has a subject–verb agreement problem. Articles and sentence boundaries also need attention, as in “in same classes” and the comma after “time” in the opening. Practise building complex sentences around a clear subject and verb, and check agreement, articles, and punctuation when editing.

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