Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-07-31

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 6.5)

In many countries, primary and secondary schools close for two months or more in the summer and this essay will examine how that has affected the learning process of the students after the holidays.

There are many value in the favour of a long holidays, it gives the student much needed time to regain their strength after a long time spent in a classroom, after all the saying "All work and no play makes jack a dull boy" and meaning goes with out saying that working or studying all the time without a proper time off makes a person a boring person or might even break the mentally. During school period, student spend their time in the classroom and parents spend their time at work and during the weekends, the kids are busying with homework and parents are helping them with their homework or spending time or their own, but during a long holiday, the family can come together and create memories and have a much needed family time, even take a vacation.

While all this beneficial for children, there is much to be said as to why a shorter holiday one month or one month and few weeks is better, speaking from personal experience, during a long holiday, so much time is spent on fun, especially in this generation of phones and social media, children no longer make out time to pick a book to read without a parent or legal guardian telling them to read, knowledge is forgotten because more time is spent scrolling through the phone. When school finally resumes, student are trying to leave the fun behind but its harder because the holiday was long, so there are having an harder time resetting their brains from the holiday mindset back to a classroom mindset.

A shorter holiday is also beneficial to the parents especially when both parents work and nobody to look after the kids during the holiday and nanny is expensive. This will have an impact on the lower or even middle class citizens who are trying to get by. But during the school period, the parents c

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the value of long holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. The ideas are relevant, such as the need for rest and family bonding versus the academic 'brain drain' and childcare challenges. However, the development is somewhat uneven. The final paragraph is incomplete, which limits the depth of the argument regarding parental childcare burdens. To reach a higher band, ensure that all points are fully explored and that the essay reaches a natural conclusion rather than ending abruptly mid-sentence.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, each focusing on a specific aspect of the prompt. There is a logical progression from the benefits of long holidays to the drawbacks and the alternative of shorter breaks. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or repetitive (e.g., 'during a long holiday', 'during school period'). The referencing is occasionally unclear, and the abrupt ending of the final paragraph disrupts the overall flow and coherence of the piece.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at idiomatic language, such as 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy', which is used appropriately. However, there are instances of imprecise word choice, such as 'break the mentally' (should be 'mental health') and 'make out time' (should be 'make time'). The range is sufficient for communication but lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'there are having an harder time') and article usage. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with several run-on sentences that could be improved by using full stops or semicolons to separate distinct ideas. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the message, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall fluency of the writing.

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