Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-11

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 6.5)

In most countries, chools give two months or a longer summer break to students. These long school holidays allow children to take up new hobbies, and relax. However, these holidays can disrupt a student's routine, and makes it difficult for them to focus on studies again after the summer break.

Summer break is the most awaited holidays for many students. This is the time, when children relax, and take up new hobbies. These two months help students decompress, and release study pressure, while focusing on activities they wanted to do, but couldn't because of school. Children work on their mental, and physical well-being during these long holidays. This break allows students to come back to school with a fresh, and rested mind, which consequently, improves their focus, and learning capacity. For instance, a student, who goes to school all around the year, without these long holidays might get mentally exhausted, as he or she will not get time to decompress or work on their selves.

However, a long summer break might disrupts a student's routine. After spending so many days playing, and not studying students might find it difficult to go back to the school routine. After a long break, waking-up early or sitting in class for hours, and focusing on studying might not be easy. On the other hand, shorter school holidays would help reduce such problems. Shorter holidays would allow students to decompress, and come back to school with a fresh mind, but they would not be long enough that students find coming back to their school routine difficult. Students will have enough time to take up new hobbies, but not enough time to forget their school routine. Shorter holidays would make it easy for them to wake-up early, or sit in class for hours. For example, a student who has 3 or 4 week holidays have enough time to refresh themselves by playing games, or learning swimming, or visiting their grandma. However, it would not be enough time to disrupt the student's habbit of waking-up early, or their stamina to sit in class, or attend school for hours.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses both questions and maintains a clear overall view: long breaks support rest and personal development, while shorter breaks may make returning to school easier. The discussion of the value of holidays is supported with relevant points about hobbies, well-being and renewed focus. The case for shorter holidays is also explained, especially through the contrast between having time to refresh and retaining school routines. However, some claims are asserted rather than fully developed—for example, the suggestion that a three- or four-week break would preserve students’ stamina for lessons could be explained more convincingly. To strengthen the response further, develop this reasoning and make the comparison between the benefits of long and shorter breaks more precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement: the opening introduces the issue, the second paragraph explains the benefits of long holidays, and the final paragraph presents the case for shorter ones. The contrast signalled by “However” and “On the other hand” helps readers follow the shift in argument, and examples are placed alongside the points they support. Some connections are repetitive, particularly the repeated references to relaxing, taking up hobbies and returning with a fresh mind. The final paragraph also contains several ideas in a long sequence, which makes the comparison less easy to follow. Grouping related points more selectively and using clearer references to earlier ideas would make the progression smoother and less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Vocabulary is adequate for discussing school breaks and includes relevant expressions such as “decompress,” “mental and physical well-being,” and “learning capacity.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and meaning remains clear despite some inaccurate or awkward wording. However, several phrases are repetitive or imprecise: “fresh mind” appears more than once, while “work on their selves” and “habbit” are unsuitable forms. Some collocations could also be more natural, such as “take up new hobbies” repeated across the essay. Aim for greater variety and accuracy in describing rest, routine and learning, and check spelling and word forms carefully. This would make the vocabulary more flexible and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex structures, including subordinate clauses such as “which consequently improves their focus” and conditional phrasing with “might.” Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “a long summer break might disrupts” should use the base verb “disrupt,” and “holidays … makes it difficult” has a subject–verb agreement problem. There are also issues with articles and sentence construction in “go back to the school routine” and “a student who has 3 or 4 week holidays.” Commas are sometimes inserted unnecessarily between closely connected words or clauses. Review agreement, verb forms and punctuation while retaining the range of sentence patterns already attempted.

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