Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-12

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 4.0)

There has long been a debate over whether extended vacations are beneficial for children, While long time holidays give the chance to relax or taking rest, others argue that shorter holidays are enable sudent's academic growth. this eassy will examine both perspectives and considerable reasons of both views before reaching a conclusion.

On the one hand, a prolonger school holidays helps students to spend time with thier family, and they get time to take rest from a continous school period. Moreover, a continues examination lead to many issues in students life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies the topic and briefly signals two relevant ideas: long breaks allow children to rest and spend time with family, while shorter breaks may support academic growth. However, it does not adequately answer either question. The value of long holidays is only touched on, and the arguments for shorter holidays are mentioned in the introduction but not explained in the body. There is no developed comparison, supporting example, or clear conclusion. The response also falls substantially short of the required 250 words, leaving the task largely incomplete. To improve, explain both sides with specific reasons—for example, how rest benefits wellbeing and how shorter breaks may reduce learning loss—and support each point with an example before stating a clear conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the response: an introductory paragraph presents the topic, followed by a body paragraph beginning with “On the one hand.” This gives the reader a simple indication of the first viewpoint. However, the response stops before developing the opposing viewpoint or reaching a conclusion, so overall progression is incomplete. Connections between ideas are also limited; “Moreover” introduces another point, but the relationship between continuous examinations and the value of holidays is not explained. The opening sentence’s contrast is difficult to follow, and punctuation makes the transition unclear. Use separate paragraphs for each question, develop each point in a logical sequence, and add a concluding paragraph that summarises your position.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses some relevant topic vocabulary, including “extended vacations,” “academic growth,” “examination,” and “school holidays,” and attempts to express contrasting views. However, the range is narrow and several word choices or forms are inaccurate, which makes parts of the message less clear. Examples include “long time holidays,” “a prolonger school holidays,” and “a continues examination”; these are not natural or correctly formed expressions. There are also spelling errors such as “sudent's,” “eassy,” “thier,” and “continous.” Aim for accurate, natural collocations and check spelling carefully. More precise phrases such as “extended summer break,” “academic progress,” and “a continuous period of schooling” would help express the ideas clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts both a complex opening sentence and simpler statements, so there is some variety in sentence structure. However, grammatical control is inconsistent, and errors sometimes make the intended meaning difficult to follow. For example, “While long time holidays give the chance to relax or taking rest, others argue that shorter holidays are enable…” has an incomplete contrast structure and an incorrect verb pattern. “A prolonger school holidays helps” also has a mismatch between the subject and verb, while “students life” needs a possessive form. The opening sentence also joins clauses with unclear punctuation. Practise building complete contrast sentences, checking subject–verb agreement and possessives, and using consistent verb forms. Proofreading sentence boundaries would improve clarity.

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