Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-12

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)

Long school holidays present students with a good number of benefits. First, students get to enjoy enough rest before a new academic session begins. Secondly, they have sufficient time to mingle and interact with their friends in the neighborhood who may be attending different schools. Remember that all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. Additionally, students get to acquire at least one skill which they might be unable to while the school session was on. They can either be engaged in tech skills, culinary skills, dancing, and many other helpful skills. Moreover, these students during long holidays get to help their parents with house chores, especially the ones from families who can barely afford a nanny. For instance, in my home country, Nigeria, long holidays are anticipated because students get to do a whole lot of things. Parents enroll their kids to learn diverse skills while others attend holiday lessons. Inspite of these engagements, these students do not fail to help their parents. In my own family, my brothers follow my dad to his workshop while I and my only sister visit my mother's provision store every afternoon. We, by all means, get to the store and assist in attending to customers. We do not just assist in attending to clients, we also clean and pack her goods once it's time to go home. Some days, we leave before her to prepare dinner for the family. Especially when we have ran out of refrigerated foods. In essence, a typical Nigerian parent does not joke with long school holidays, likewise the students, irrespective of whether they are in primary or secondary school.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the first part of the prompt regarding the value of long holidays well, providing several relevant points such as rest, skill acquisition, and family assistance. However, the second part of the prompt—the arguments in favour of shorter holidays—is entirely neglected. The essay focuses exclusively on the benefits of long holidays. To achieve a higher band, you must ensure all parts of the question are answered. The ideas presented are relevant and supported by personal examples from your experience in Nigeria, which adds a nice touch of authenticity, but the lack of balance regarding the second half of the prompt significantly limits the score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into a single large paragraph, which makes it difficult to follow the progression of ideas. While you use some cohesive devices like 'First', 'Secondly', 'Additionally', and 'Moreover', the lack of paragraph breaks between the introduction, body, and conclusion (or between the two distinct parts of the prompt) hinders the overall structure. To improve, you should use clear paragraphing to separate different themes. The referencing is generally clear, but the flow is somewhat mechanical due to the reliance on simple list-like transitions rather than more sophisticated linking of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'academic session', 'culinary skills', and 'provision store'. However, the vocabulary is somewhat repetitive and lacks the precision or sophistication required for higher bands. There are some minor issues with word choice, such as 'we have ran out of' (should be 'we had run out of') and 'do not joke with' (which is an informal idiom). To improve, try to incorporate more academic collocations and avoid informal phrasing that sounds like spoken English rather than a formal essay.

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 that occur throughout the text. For example, 'I and my only sister' should be 'my only sister and I', and 'we have ran out of' is grammatically incorrect. Additionally, there are some punctuation and sentence boundary issues, such as the fragment 'Especially when we have ran out of refrigerated foods.' These errors do not completely impede communication, but they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and formal sentence construction will help.

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

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