Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-15

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 some countries, both the primary and secondary schools close for two months or more in the summer holidays. During this period, children often have a significant amount of free time. Some people argue that long school holidays are beneficial, while other argue that shorter holidays are important. This essay will discuss valuable points of long holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter school holidays.

On the one hand, long school holidays encourage children to participate in extracurricular activities. This is because children may not have enough time during school term to participate in this activities. For example, if a child is willing to learn to play the piano, they may not be able to learn this during school term due to busy schedules. Therefore, a child can learn to play the piano during long summer holidays because to learn this skill several months of practice is required. Additionally, longer holidays give family an opportunity to plan longer trips. Families can plan long trips to abroad without worrying about their children school schedules.

On the other hand, there are some important aspects of shorter holidays. Firstly, shorter holidays help children to maintain study routines. Children may lose their study habits and techniques during their long summer breaks. As a result, shorter holidays prevent them from losing these habits. Secondly, shorter holidays help children to reduce the amount of unproductive time spend at homes. For instance, shorter breaks prevent a child from spend huge amount of time spend in unproductive manner.

In conclusion, both longer and shorter holidays remain important. A balanced approach works best. Longer holidays help children gain additional skills, whereas shorter holidays maintain children's study routines.

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 ideas are relevant and clearly presented. However, the development is somewhat limited. For instance, the argument regarding 'unproductive time' is mentioned but not fully explored with specific examples or deeper reasoning. While the position is clear throughout, the essay would benefit from more detailed elaboration on the impacts of these holidays on academic performance or social development to reach a higher band. The structure is logical, and the conclusion effectively summarizes the main points.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is well-organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central topic, and the progression of ideas is logical. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand,' 'Additionally,' and 'Firstly' are used effectively to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there is occasional repetition of phrasing (e.g., 'shorter holidays help children to...'). Paragraphing is used appropriately, and the overall flow is smooth, making the text easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally appropriate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There is some repetition of basic terms like 'children,' 'holidays,' and 'time.' While the student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary, such as 'extracurricular activities' and 'study routines,' the range is somewhat limited. There are minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'trips to abroad' (should be 'trips abroad') and 'spend at homes' (should be 'spent at home'). To improve, the student should aim for more varied synonyms and more precise collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. Examples include 'other argue' (should be 'others argue'), 'participate in this activities' (should be 'these activities'), and 'spend huge amount of time spend' (should be 'spending a huge amount of time'). These errors are frequent enough to be noticeable but do not impede communication. Increasing the variety of complex structures and proofreading for subject-verb agreement and preposition usage would help improve the score.

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