Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-02
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)
Across the globe, many elementary and high schools tend to give summer vacation of two months which is necessary for the individuals for relaxing the mind and isolating them from the academic stress. While other people are against this and the reasons for the same are discussed below.
First and foremost, this vacation period gives chance to individual to carry out their passion in sports, arts and their interest based things to try and start following it to make a carrier in that field. Moreover, this also gives time to children and their parent to spend the quality time together and gives chance for a family trip. It also gives them time for the rest and recovery from the academic pressure. To give an idea , for instance, most of the Indian parents want to take their children on trips in the summer breaks after a one hard year of study and this feels like getting a reward.
However, many people contradicts this view as they believe that there should be shorter holidays as to prevent the learning loss of students in tough subjects like mathematics and science. They believe that giving longer vacations like two months will help to deconstruct the basics of these subjects. Additionally, the steady routines helps the children to learn better without taking frequent breaks and helps to understand and memorize the fundamentals. To cite an example, most of the schools in the USA has adopted that a student goes to school for nine weeks and takes just three weeks off. This short break keeps their brain in a routine. When they return, they remember the science facts they just learned and start new lessons immediately.
To conclude, there are several benefits of long holiday breaks such as relaxation time, pursue their interests and hobbies, spending good time with families and on other hand people argue that due to long breaks they forget the fundamental concepts and increase in loss of learning.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 7.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.5 |
| Overall | 7.0 |
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 ideas are relevant and supported by examples, such as the mention of Indian family trips and the US school system. However, the development is somewhat superficial. For instance, the discussion on 'learning loss' could be expanded with more specific academic or psychological reasoning to reach a higher band. The position is clear throughout, and the structure is logical, covering the required points adequately.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5
The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs. Each paragraph has a central topic, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'First and foremost', 'Moreover', 'However', and 'To conclude'. While some transitions are a bit mechanical or repetitive, they effectively link the ideas. The use of referencing is generally clear, though some sentence structures could be more fluid to improve the overall flow between ideas.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'academic stress', 'learning loss', and 'fundamental concepts'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'interest based things' (should be 'interests') and 'make a carrier' (should be 'career'). The range is sufficient for the task but lacks the precision and sophistication required for higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5
The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('most of the schools... has adopted') and article usage ('the summer vacation of two months'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor errors in sentence construction. The errors do not impede communication, but they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.