Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-13

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 6.5)

Primary and secondary educational institutions in some nations give two months or more summer holidays. The necessity of prolonged school closure is the idea that students would engage in more extracurricular activities for better cognitive development. However, there are debates that favour shorter holidays pointing out the disadvantages of prolonged disconnection from fundamental education on students lives.

In order to improve students' intellectual capability, extracurricular activities need to be introduced beside bookish knowledge and for that many schools see long summer holidays as a valuable decision. During this time, students get to spend more time with their families, go on tours, explore new place, meet new people, learn something new or maybe pick up a hobby, which makes excited and think beyond their limitations. Because when people experience changes they enjoy, it really broadens the horizon of their minds. For instance, students usually are busy during school days which make them tired to focus on an extracurricular activity after all the academic pressure but when they are on holidays they tend to learn new things that help their growth.

Nevertheless, opinions in favour to shorten holidays are quite popular, as long break from study can destroy ones attention. Many students struggle to adapt to the school settings after a long holiday as they become too comfortable at home with all the entertainment they got. This happened during the covid 19 pandamic when students could not get used to in-person classes after a long time and it took them a while to get back on track. Therefore, many argue that schools holidays should be shortened for better flow of education.

In conclusion, the importance of the long holidays is to get students involved in activities outside typical classroom for practical exposure and mental growth but shorter breaks are highly considered and supported by many as long holidays break the concentration of students after too much leisure.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the value of long holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. You have a clear position and provide relevant examples, such as the mention of the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate the difficulty of returning to school routines. The ideas are generally well-developed, though the discussion on the value of holidays could be slightly more specific regarding the 'cognitive development' mentioned in the introduction. Overall, the response is balanced and directly answers the task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central theme, and you use cohesive devices such as 'However', 'Nevertheless', and 'Therefore' to link ideas. While the progression is generally smooth, some transitions feel slightly mechanical. For instance, the link between the second and third paragraphs could be more fluid. However, the paragraphing is appropriate, and the logical flow is maintained throughout the text, making it easy for the reader to follow your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with some precision. Phrases like 'intellectual capability', 'academic pressure', and 'practical exposure' are used effectively. There are some minor issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'bookish knowledge' (which is slightly unnatural) and 'make them tired to focus' (should be 'too tired to focus'). Despite these occasional inaccuracies, the vocabulary is adequate for the task and does not impede communication. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations and idiomatic expressions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While many sentences are clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'which makes excited' (missing subject 'it'), 'opinions in favour to shorten' (should be 'in favour of shortening'), and 'the importance of the long holidays is to get students involved' (slightly awkward phrasing). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor errors in sentence construction. The errors do not significantly impede meaning, but they do prevent the response from reaching the higher bands where error-free complex sentences are more frequent.

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