Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-07-28

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 7.0)

Providing vacations of two or more months to the students of elementary and high school in the season of summer is a common trend that is being followed in almost every nation on the globe. There are multiple valuable reasons behind giving longer holidays. One of them is to rejuvenate the minds of students from their hectic study schedules, while vacations with shorter span of time are also considered better ones because of not distracting the peers from their actual goal of study for long time.

Giving months of relaxation to pupils in order to refresh their selves to be more productive is a key factor and most fruitful cause of it. In other words, children suffer a lot with anxiety and depression due to tough competition and hectic schedule during their school time as every student want to be on top. Whether it is their personal choice or due to their parent's pressure. So, they go through a lot of mental issues which can be solved by providing them leisure time for activities they actually enjoy. Take Indian schools as an example, the syllabus of the curriculum is very hard and lengthy that's why individuals struggle to manage both and suicidal rate is also very high there because of the pressure being on top and to pass the class. As a result, they are having months vacation for refreshing their lives.

On the flip side of the coin, there are several reasons to support the idea of shorter school holidays and the dominant one is main objective of the children during school time is to achieve good scores and pass the exams because being good at basic schooling helps a lot to build bright future, which needs focus and attention. But that can be disrupted if they stay away from studies for long time. As far as relaxation and refreshment are concerned that can also be done within a week as well. A week's time is enough for performing fun activities. For an instance, college students have reading week breaks after their every semester got finished. They do not get longer free days. Even they have more to deal with as compared to primary and secondary school attendees. Hence, it is crystal clear that even short holidays can benefit in terms of changing the daily routine of the students.

In conclusion, although holidays are an essential part of school life and many regions provide two or more months of leaves to school going children for recreational activities to freshen up their minds, the focus driven from the studies due to it is the main reason to support short holidays.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the value of long holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. The position is clear throughout. The ideas are relevant, though the development is slightly uneven. For instance, the example of Indian schools is a strong attempt to support the argument for long breaks, but the link between the 'suicidal rate' and the need for long vacations could be more nuanced. The conclusion effectively summarizes the main points. Overall, the response fulfills all requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. The progression of ideas is generally smooth. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the flip side of the coin', 'In other words', and 'As a result', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical or repetitive. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two distinct sides of the argument. While the flow is generally good, the use of referencing could be more precise in a few places to improve the overall cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey ideas with reasonable precision. Phrases like 'rejuvenate the minds', 'hectic study schedules', and 'crystal clear' show a good grasp of topic-related language. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'refresh their selves' (should be 'themselves') and 'focus driven from the studies' (should be 'distraction from studies'). Despite these occasional errors, the vocabulary is adequate to express complex arguments clearly without impeding communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There is a good attempt at using complex sentences, although some contain grammatical slips, such as 'every student want to be' (should be 'wants') and 'they are having months vacation' (should be 'they have months of vacation'). Punctuation is generally functional, though some sentence fragments occur, such as 'Whether it is their personal choice or due to their parent's pressure.' These errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding the intended meaning.

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