Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

In many countries, almost every school closes for summer vacations for around 2 months or sometimes 2.5 month. It is widely believed that summer holidays are very important for students as well as staff of the Schools each year. Also these vacations have become increasingly significant in the modern schooling practice. While this trend of long summer holidays offers several benefits. it also raises concerns about students marks performance. This essay will discuss both the advantages and disadvantages of having 2 months long summer holidays for the students.

To begin with the advantages of long summer vacations in primary and secondary schools. One major benefit is that it helps students of the schools to spend quality time with family and friends and feel relaxed. For example, students might go to trips and short picnics, where they can engage in different sport activities and in this way get free time to enjoy and feel refreshed. This results into their positive wellbeing and help them to enjoy other activities apart from their studies.

Additionally, during these holidays, students are able to learn new things. For instance, they learn new skills, new games or new activities. This leads to improve their creative abilities, increase their interest in taking part in extra curricular activities at schools.

On the other hand, certain disadvantages of this activity includes poor academic performance of few students in the class. After a long holidays student don't show more interest in studies. For example, sometimes long summer holidays effects some students in the way that after coming from summer holidays, they do not show much interest in studies and they do not score well in their exams after the holidays.

In conclusion, although there are multiple benefits of long vacations but there are also disadvantages. However, in personal perspective, there should be summer holidays in schools each year, but those vacations should be of maximum few weeks not too long. This will help students to make themselves refreshed by enjoying few weeks of holidays as well as also keep themselves interested in their studies and exams.

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. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention benefits like family time and skill acquisition, the arguments are repetitive and lack depth. For instance, the point about 'learning new things' is mentioned but not expanded upon with specific examples. The disadvantage section is also brief and lacks a nuanced discussion of the 'learning loss' or 'academic regression' often cited in this debate. To reach a higher band, ensure each point is fully extended with clear, logical reasoning and specific, relevant examples.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into clear paragraphs, and there is a logical progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Additionally', and 'On the other hand' to signal transitions. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical, and there are instances where the flow between sentences is slightly disjointed. For example, the transition between the benefits of family time and the benefits of learning new skills could be smoother. Ensure that your linking words serve to connect ideas more naturally rather than just acting as signposts at the start of paragraphs.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your meaning clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'academic performance' and 'extra-curricular activities'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there is a tendency to repeat simple words like 'new' and 'studies'. There are also minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'students marks performance' (should be 'academic performance') and 'effects some students' (should be 'affects'). To improve, try to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary and avoid repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'almost every school closes' (should be 'schools close') and 'after a long holidays' (should be 'after long holidays'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some sentence fragments and incorrect placement of full stops, such as 'While this trend of long summer holidays offers several benefits. it also raises concerns'. Increasing your control over complex sentence structures and proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy will help you achieve a higher score.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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