Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Nowadays, in many countries, primary and secondary schools remain closed for two months or more in the summer holidays. Some people believe longer holidays are good for students, while others say shorter vacations are good for children's performance. However, both views have their own advantages. In this essay, I will discuss both topics.

There are several advantages to having long holidays in schools. Firstly, students need more time to relax after studying for many months. For example, when students have more time they spend a lot of time with their parents and their friends. When they spend quality time together they feel fresh and more relaxed. Moreover, when they go school after their holidays they do studies more productively. Secondly, in holidays students learn new skills and take part in many different activities such as playing football. For instance, when students play any sports they learn many new techniques and also they can learn teamwork. Furthermore, when students go outside they can improve their communication skills and meet different peoples to know about their cultures.

On the other hand, there are some strong arguments in favour of shorter school holidays. Firstly, when students have a lot of free time they become addicted to screens and all day using mobile phones and playing games. For example, in holidays kids using smartphones watching reels and playing games they become lazy and after holidays they do not work hard in their studies. As a result, they have bad marks in their exams and ruin their future life. Secondly, when students have a long holiday they can forget about their studies. For instance, students play games and they have no interest in studies and when they go school again they forget everything. As a result, teachers have to struggle and spend extra time revising previous topics.

To sum it up, long holidays provide students free time to relax, play sports and learn new skills. However, having shorter vacations students do not forget their previous lessons and also maintain they can focus on their education and not become lazy. In my opinion, both types of holidays have their own advantages, but I think schools should maintain a reasonable balance between study and free time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both questions: the first body paragraph explains benefits of longer breaks, including rest, family time, sports and learning skills, while the second gives reasons for shorter holidays, such as avoiding excessive screen use and reducing the loss of previously learned material. Your concluding preference for a “reasonable balance” is clear. These relevant points meet the task well, but some are more fully explained than others. For example, the link between screen use and “ruin their future life” is asserted rather than carefully supported, and the value of long holidays could be developed with a more specific example. To strengthen the response further, explain the consequences of each main point and make the comparison between the two holiday patterns more precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two sides, and a conclusion. Sequencing is easy to follow, and signposts such as “Firstly,” “Moreover,” “On the other hand,” and “To sum it up” help readers identify the stages of the argument. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical because several points are introduced with the same additive pattern, and some links between ideas are not fully clear. For instance, “when they go school after their holidays they do studies more productively” moves quickly from rest to improved performance without explaining the connection. The final sentence, “maintain they can focus,” is also difficult to follow. Use a wider range of linking methods and make each sentence’s relationship to the previous one explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “teamwork,” “communication skills,” “performance,” and “revising previous topics.” There are also attempts to express consequences and evaluation, such as “As a result” and “quality time.” However, the range is limited by repeated general words such as “students,” “holidays,” “good,” and “learn,” and some word choices or collocations are inaccurate. Examples include “different peoples” for people from different backgrounds, “do studies” for study, and “bad marks” where a more precise academic expression would fit. These choices do not prevent understanding, but they reduce precision and naturalness. Build a broader set of topic-specific expressions and check whether verbs and nouns commonly occur together.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “when,” “while,” and “after,” and the overall meaning is generally understandable. Some sentence patterns are controlled, such as “As a result, teachers have to struggle and spend extra time revising previous topics.” However, there are some errors in sentence construction and verb forms. For example, “when students have a lot of free time they become addicted to screens and all day using mobile phones” lacks a parallel, complete verb structure; “kids using smartphones watching reels” has the same problem. Other examples include “when they go school” and “students play games and they have no interest in studies.” Improve accuracy by checking that each clause has a complete subject and verb, and practise varied complex structures with correct articles, prepositions and punctuation.

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