Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-03

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 5.5)

Globally, schools observe summer holidays for two months every year. These vacations are beneficial for students in many ways. However, some people say that school holidays should be shorter. In this essay, I will discuss both perspectives with examples.

Long summer holidays hold immense importance, as it allow students to relax mentally, and spend a quality time with their family members and friends. In addition, some students are also interested to learn some new skills, such as computer courses, baking, cooking, and painting. Long school breaks give them an opportunity to get enrolled in different courses and learn new skills. Moreover, students can also travel and visit some places and refresh themselves for upcoming academic tasks. For instance, in summer holidays usually people like to go their hometowns, meet with their relatives, and enjoy beauty of nature and organic food.

Nevertheless, some people believe that summer holidays should not be that long, instead shorter holidays are more advantageous for students. In their view, students often forget basic concepts, that have been taught by teachers with a lot of efforts. In addition, their daily routine get disturbed, and it takes time to settle again, which is a challenging task for parents. Furthermore, students are more engaged in mobile phones, and video games during their holidays, rather than something productive.

In conclusion, although there are many benefits of long school breaks, including chance to visit their love ones, to explore new places, and to polish their extra-curricular skills. It also has a downside, a few students get lazy, and unproductive, that greatly affect their studies.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the value of long holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. The ideas are relevant and generally well-supported with examples such as learning new skills and the issue of academic regression. However, the development is somewhat basic. To reach a higher band, you should expand on your points with more depth; for example, when discussing the 'downside' of long holidays, you could explain the long-term impact on student achievement or the socioeconomic implications for working parents. The position is clear throughout, and the essay structure is appropriate for the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each focusing on a specific aspect of the prompt. You use a range of cohesive devices such as 'In addition', 'Moreover', 'Nevertheless', and 'Furthermore' to link ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the final paragraph is a sentence fragment ('...to polish their extra-curricular skills. It also has a downside...'). Improving the flow between sentences and ensuring that all sentences are grammatically complete would enhance the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'academic tasks', 'productive', and 'extra-curricular'. There are some minor collocation issues, such as 'enjoy beauty of nature' (should be 'the beauty') and 'visit their love ones' (should be 'loved ones'). While you attempt to use some less common vocabulary, the overall range is somewhat limited. To improve, try to incorporate more precise academic collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing to show greater flexibility and control over your word choices.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement ('it allow' instead of 'it allows', 'routine get' instead of 'routine gets') and punctuation issues. Some sentences are slightly awkward, such as 'students are more engaged in mobile phones', which would be better phrased as 'students spend more time on mobile phones'. Increasing the frequency of error-free complex sentences and proofreading for basic agreement errors will help you achieve a higher score.

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