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)

It is an undeniable fact that school holidays play an important role in students education and well-being. Holidays are essential part of school life as many countries prefer to close the schools for two months or more during summer. Longer holidays are required for refreshment and offer several advantages but shorter holidays also have important educational benefits.

To begin with, studying the whole year with dedication, at the end of academic year students wish to have a long vacation for their personal growth like to focus on their hobbies or any particular sport. Students require to spend their time with their family member, where parents can plan to take their children on a family trip. Furthermore, some countries have a very hot climate and going school in such weather can cause health problems like dehydration or sun stroke which can affect the studies. Long holidays can improve students mental and physical health. Nowadays, students are keen to learn new things like coding, painting or music which keep them productive during their vacation.

It is an irrefutable fact that long vacation have many positive impact on students but at the same time there are some limitation that stops the growth of an individual. If the schools have short holidays there will be less learning loss which beneficial for students academic growth. There will be better retention of knowledge. Students will be more focused to studies and have consistent study routine. Students will not waste their time on screen.

To conclude, both the view have its own merits and limitation; long vacation is necessary for personal growth and shorter vacation helps to maintain academic growth of student. I believe that there should be balanced school calendar which provide both personal and academic growth of student.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the value of long holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. The position is clear throughout, and the ideas are relevant. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat superficial. For example, while you mention 'learning loss' and 'retention of knowledge' as arguments for shorter holidays, these points could be expanded with more specific examples or deeper analysis to reach a higher band. The conclusion effectively summarizes your stance, but the overall development remains at a standard level, lacking the depth required for a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. You use some cohesive devices such as 'To begin with,' 'Furthermore,' and 'To conclude,' which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are a bit mechanical, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. For instance, the transition between the benefits of long holidays and the drawbacks in the third paragraph is slightly abrupt. Additionally, referencing could be more precise; for example, 'both the view' should be 'both views' to ensure better grammatical cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'undeniable fact,' 'academic growth,' and 'consistent study routine.' There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'going school' instead of 'going to school' and 'long vacation have many positive impact' (should be 'has' and 'impacts'). While you attempt to use some less common vocabulary, the overall range is sufficient but not particularly sophisticated. Focusing on more precise collocations and ensuring subject-verb agreement with nouns would improve your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the schools,' 'the students education'), pluralization ('both the view'), and verb forms ('Students require to spend' should be 'Students need to spend'). These errors do not impede communication, but they are noticeable. To improve, try to vary your sentence structure further and pay closer attention to basic grammatical rules like subject-verb agreement and the correct use of prepositions.

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