Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Summer holidays are the biggest part of education system in several countries. Schools remain shut for minimum two months and maximum 4 months during peak of summer season between May to August. It has some advantages and disadvantages, I will discuss both in this essay.

First of all, the benefits of summer vacation for students and teachers are substantial. One main reason is, severe heat waves effect people during peak of summer season. In many countries such as Pakistan, India, America, Korea and China the temperature rose to almost 50 degree celcius which cause fatigue, dehydration and nausea among students and teachers. Therefore the education department announced several months holiday to make sure student and teacher will not get affected by the heat.

Another reason for this view is, it will reduce study stress from students' mind and help them refresh their mind. By spending time at home with family and friends childern can relax, it will help their mental health. For instance, students who were busy with exams in March and started their new class in April, when they get holidays in May or June they will feel relaxed and can refresh their mind for further studies. Hence it will benefit students' mental helath.

Although long summer vacation has benefits, it has demerits as well. One of them is, not enough time to cover whole curriculam. Teachers will struggle to cover syllabus in remaining months and it will cause stress among them which might effect students. For instance, if teacher will not be able to complete the syllabus, then students do not have enough time to revise the lessons before exams and it will effect their marks. So, shorter holidays could help to resolve this issue.

In conclusion, Summer holidays either long or short will benefit students and teachers, while longer holidays during peak summer season could help in recovring students' mental health but short holidays can increase study time which help in scoring good marks in exam. Government can introduse online education system to teach students during holidays, so their time will not be waste.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both questions: the benefits of long holidays are linked to avoiding extreme heat and allowing students to recover from study stress, while the case for shorter breaks is connected to having more time to teach and revise the curriculum. These are relevant reasons, and the examples about hot-weather countries and exam schedules help make them concrete. However, the shorter-holiday argument is developed less fully than the benefits of long holidays, and the conclusion introduces online education without explaining how it answers the question about shorter holidays. The opening also promises to discuss advantages and disadvantages rather than clearly framing the two requested perspectives. Develop the shorter-holiday case with a further consequence or example, and keep the conclusion focused on the comparison.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the benefits and drawbacks of long holidays, and a conclusion. Sequencing phrases such as “First of all,” “Another reason,” and “In conclusion” make the progression easy to follow. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent organisation and shows some movement towards more flexible cohesion. However, several links feel mechanical, and repeated references to “students” and “holidays” make the connections less varied. The final paragraph also shifts abruptly to online education, which weakens the conclusion’s focus. Use pronouns or precise synonyms where the reference is clear, and connect each paragraph’s main point more explicitly to the question about the value of long holidays or the case for shorter ones.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for the topic, including phrases such as “severe heat waves,” “dehydration,” “study stress,” “curriculum,” and “mental health.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and some topic-specific vocabulary adds precision. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “substantial” and “resolve this issue.” At this level, however, some word-choice, collocation, and spelling errors remain. For example, “effect people” should be “affect people,” and “recovring,” “introduse,” and “curriculam” are misspelled. “Refresh their mind” is also less natural than “recharge” or “refresh themselves.” Check spelling carefully and learn common word partnerships so that your vocabulary sounds more accurate and natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex forms, including cause-and-effect clauses with “Therefore” and conditional structures such as “if teacher will not be able to complete the syllabus.” Most of the meaning remains clear, and the response shows an effort to connect ideas in longer sentences. Some grammatical errors nevertheless recur. For example, “the temperature rose … which cause” has a tense and agreement problem; “Schools remain shut for minimum two months” needs an article and a more complete construction; and “if teacher will not be able” would be more natural as “if a teacher is not able.” Commas are also needed to separate some introductory clauses. Practise accurate articles, subject–verb agreement, and conditional verb forms while retaining your range of sentence structures.

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