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)

Summer vacations are considered essential in many countries. Primary and secondary schools off for two months or more in the summer vacations.

Here we have two points to explain. One of the value of long school Holidays and the other is to elaborate shorter school Holidays. Firstly usually lots of schools off for 2 or 2by half months to protect children from hot season. They gave homework to their students for write and learn. After vacations candidates check their work . In one case I agree with this statement because after long time children spend some time with their parents share their things and collaborate with each other. Without the pressure of studies child's often feel fresh and concentration. Children's consider the difference between two environments of schools and the home. They gain new thing's and boost themselves.

On the other hand long term school Holidays create a mess in students life. For instance in Coronavirus cases schools were off for the long period of time and online classes were arranged.Sometime signls problems occurred and students have to sit on the screen for many hours. Occasionally they irritate and show no interest in studies. Hence the child's and parents both disturbed.

Here I would be not wrong if I say that Children's should must change their environment as it's their developing time. So vacations not as too short or not too long.

In conclusion short term vacations takes some relax for children's and they prepared themselves for next study time with excitement.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the value of long holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. However, the development of ideas is limited. The points regarding the 'hot season' and 'coronavirus' are relevant but lack depth and clear logical expansion. The position is generally clear, but the argument lacks a sophisticated structure. The essay tends to over-generalise, and some points, such as the mention of 'signals problems', are not fully linked to the broader educational context of school holiday duration. To improve, ensure each paragraph has a clear topic sentence and provides more detailed, academic reasoning.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the progression of ideas is sometimes disjointed. While there are some cohesive devices used, such as 'Firstly', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion', they are used in a somewhat mechanical way. The referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly in the second paragraph where the transition from general school holidays to the specific context of the pandemic is abrupt. The use of paragraphing is present, but the internal structure of the paragraphs lacks a smooth flow of ideas, making the overall argument feel slightly fragmented.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There is frequent misuse of basic terms, such as 'schools off' instead of 'schools are closed' and 'candidates' instead of 'students'. The phrasing is often repetitive, and there are several instances of incorrect word forms, such as 'child's' instead of 'children'. To reach a higher band, you should focus on using more precise academic vocabulary and ensuring correct word choice and collocation, avoiding informal or conversational phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay relies heavily on simple sentence structures. While there are attempts at complex sentences, they often contain grammatical errors, such as 'Children's should must change' and 'vacations not as too short'. Punctuation is inconsistent, particularly with the use of apostrophes (e.g., 'thing's', 'child's'). There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement and article usage. These errors are noticeable and occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader, although the overall meaning remains understandable. Focusing on basic sentence construction and proofreading for common grammatical slips would be beneficial.

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