Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-09

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 6.0)

In lot of nations around the world, primary and secondary schools close for long vacation in summer. There are many benefits such as psychological and physical recovery and more time for personal hobbies. On the other side there are also arguments in favour of shorter summer break which includes to dedicate more time to complete school curricular activities. This essay will explore both sides.

On the one hand, long summer hoidays could help students to recover from stressful life of schools where long school hours and a lot of homework put students under a huge psychological stress throughout the year, Moreover children awake every morning to frequent school that make them feel exhausted after long hours of courses and this long vacation could helps them to recover and boost their energy. In addition, the more time students have and the more they can dedicate to their hobbies. They need to focus on other activities that can ease their stress and hobbies are the best way to stay calm and think better.

On the other hand, having short summer holidays facilitates students to recover syllabus more calmly and dedicate time to the extra curricular activities in school. Children can focus on their studies when they know to have some extra time and seek help from their teachers, in case they feel not ready for exams. For instance, in India some private schools decided to close just for 2 weeks rather than 2 months and the outcome was surprising because they found the student votes were incresed because they had more time to study without any burden.

In conclusion, the long summer vacation are beneficials to recover from physical and psychological trauma of school life, however, short summer holidays has also positive outcomes. From my perspective institutes should strike a balance that can alleviate burden from pupils and at the same time provides oppurtunity to schools to recover syllabus in right time without putting pressure on students.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the value of long holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. The position is clear throughout. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. While the benefits of long holidays are explained reasonably well, the arguments for shorter holidays rely on a somewhat confusing example regarding 'student votes' (likely meaning 'grades' or 'scores'), which weakens the clarity of the argument. To reach a higher band, ensure that examples are logically sound and directly support the point being made. Overall, the task is addressed, but the depth of analysis could be improved by providing more concrete, logical reasoning for the proposed benefits of shorter terms.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In addition', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical or repetitive. For instance, the use of 'and' to connect clauses is frequent, and some referencing is slightly unclear, such as the pronoun usage in the second paragraph. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and there is a clear progression of ideas, though the flow could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and more sophisticated sentence connectors.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'curricular activities' and 'psychological recovery'. However, there are several instances of word-choice errors and spelling mistakes, such as 'hoidays', 'incresed', 'beneficials', and 'oppurtunity'. Additionally, the phrase 'recover syllabus' is an unnatural collocation; 'cover the syllabus' or 'complete the curriculum' would be more accurate. The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but the frequent minor errors and limited precision in word choice prevent a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the writer attempts complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('this long vacation could helps them') and article usage ('In lot of nations'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some run-on sentences and comma splices. The errors do not typically impede communication, but they are frequent enough to be noticeable. To improve, the student should focus on mastering basic subject-verb agreement and ensuring that complex sentence structures are punctuated correctly to avoid errors that distract the reader.

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

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