Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-17

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)

It is observed that in numerous countries, primary and secondary institutions are shutdown for a couple of months for summer vacations. in this essay i will give my arguments in the up coming paragraph.

To commence with my first and foremost reason behind long school holidays is extreme weather. In other word, there could be sickness, dehydration and even serious migraine to children due to high sun rays or hot air. For instance, a survey was conducted by WHO ( World Health Organization ) in 2019, it was found that students of ten to fourteen age were hospitalized for a short period of time. It results that, long days off should be given to the student for there better health rather than attending the regular classes.

Furthermore, there are alot of argument in favour of limited school holidays. to explain it, teachers has a lot of pressure to complete the syllabus on time, some time there came government holiday in between the course work due to which a valuable lectures can not be delivered to the students for their exams. for example, a news was published in Hindustan Times about final board exams of tenth class in Haryana, it was found that student have not attempted the question in there examination due to lack of information.

To conclude, Shorter school holidays give benifits to student related to there course yett

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the value of long holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. However, the essay is significantly under the 250-word minimum, which limits the depth of development. The ideas, such as extreme weather and teacher pressure, are introduced but not fully extended. The conclusion is incomplete, cutting off mid-sentence, which indicates a failure to fully address the task requirements. To improve, you must ensure you meet the word count by expanding on your examples and providing a complete, well-structured conclusion that synthesizes your arguments.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay uses basic paragraphing and some cohesive devices like 'To commence with' and 'Furthermore'. However, the progression is hindered by the abrupt ending and the lack of a clear, cohesive structure in the final paragraph. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the flow between sentences is occasionally mechanical. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider range of linking words more naturally and ensure that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that supports the overall argument, leading to a logical and complete conclusion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'shutdown' (used as a verb instead of 'shut down') and 'there better health' (should be 'their'). The use of 'a news was published' is also non-standard. To improve, focus on learning collocations and ensuring correct word forms. Expanding your vocabulary to include more academic and topic-specific terms will help convey your ideas with greater precision and sophistication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('teachers has'), incorrect pronoun usage ('there' instead of 'their'), and punctuation errors, such as the inconsistent use of spaces around parentheses. The sentence structure is often repetitive. To improve, pay closer attention to basic grammar rules, particularly subject-verb agreement and homophones. Practicing more complex sentence structures while ensuring they remain error-free will also help improve your score in this criterion.

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

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