Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-16

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 regions, primary and secondary education remain close for students, around two to three or sometimes it may turn in to long vacation during summer. This essay will examine the primary goal of long schools holidays and the arguments regarding shorter school holidays.

On the one hand, the question is based on the value of long vacation during summer. This reasoning is based on the fact that the students may suffer from heat weaves and dehydration, which leads towards serious health issues such as migration. Alternatively, the students should need a break from schools after studying whole academic year. Therefore, summer holidays are the best way to keep far away from suffering health issues. For instance, In India, the phenomenon of holidays are going since many years, which benefits in two ways such as; staying away from preventing health issues and break after burning out whole year. Hence, it is widely accepted all over the globe.

On the other hand, the arguments in a stand of shorter school holidays. Firstly, it is considered by observing connection of studies between the gap of holidays. Due to it, shorter holidays helps to stay connecting with studies, if students are allowed to enjoy for long vacation than it may leads to the off track from studies. Secondly, it often benefits to maintain friendship and bond among classmates and tutors. Therefore, this viewpoint is substantial.

In conclusion, every coin has two sides and both the views carriers benefits for students to grow thier abilities and their personal care.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The essay addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the value of long holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. However, the development of ideas is limited. For example, the argument regarding 'heat weaves' (heatwaves) and 'migration' (likely meaning migraines) is unclear and lacks logical depth. The explanation for shorter holidays is also brief and somewhat repetitive. To improve, you should provide more detailed explanations and concrete examples to support your points, ensuring that your arguments are fully developed rather than just mentioned.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use some cohesive devices like 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion'. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly inaccurate, such as 'the arguments in a stand of shorter school holidays', which is grammatically awkward. The progression of ideas within paragraphs is occasionally disjointed, making the flow feel a bit forced. Improving the variety and naturalness of your linking words will help your writing flow more smoothly.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but there are several instances of word-choice errors and awkward collocations. For example, 'remain close' should be 'remain closed', 'migration' is used incorrectly for 'migraines', and 'the phenomenon of holidays are going' is unnatural. You also use 'carriers' instead of 'carries'. While you attempt to use some topic-specific vocabulary, the lack of precision and frequent errors in word choice limit your score. Focus on learning the correct context for words and common collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('education remain', 'holidays are going'), incorrect verb forms ('should need', 'may leads'), and awkward phrasing ('if students are allowed to enjoy for long vacation than it may leads to the off track'). These errors are noticeable and occasionally make the meaning difficult to grasp. To reach a higher band, you need to focus on basic sentence construction and proofreading for common grammatical slips.

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

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