Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Primary and secondary chools remains close for summer holidays in many countries worldwide. This demographic phenomanon presents many benefits with some drawbacks.

People, believe long period of holidays offers much advantages argue by saying they provide unlimited benefits for learners and teachers. They both get time to rejunevate themselves after a regular boring study. Long holidays provides students to be engaged in practical skills that classroom study can't give. For instance, they may get enough time to work on their favourite hobbies like painting, photography or a short time worker in a compnay. On the other side, learners may have time to spend with their families. For example , families have oppurtinity to plan a travel or enjoy best time altoghether.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response4.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, reaching only 121 words. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed. While you identify some benefits of long holidays, you do not fully explore the arguments in favour of shorter holidays, which is a key part of the prompt. The ideas presented are underdeveloped and lack the necessary depth and supporting examples required for an academic essay. To improve, you must ensure you address all parts of the prompt equally and expand your arguments with more detailed explanations and relevant examples to meet the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is divided into short paragraphs, but the logical progression is weak. While you use some transition signals like 'On the other side' and 'For instance', the overall structure is fragmented due to the lack of a clear introduction and conclusion. The ideas within the paragraphs are somewhat repetitive, and the connection between sentences could be smoother. To improve, focus on using a wider variety of cohesive devices and ensure each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that directly relates to the prompt's requirements.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is limited and contains several spelling errors, such as 'chools', 'phenomanon', 'rejunevate', 'oppurtinity', and 'altoghether'. These errors, combined with awkward phrasing like 'a short time worker in a compnay', hinder the clarity of your writing. You rely on basic vocabulary and struggle with precise word choice. To improve, focus on learning the correct spelling of common academic terms and try to incorporate more sophisticated synonyms to express your ideas more clearly and professionally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors that affect readability. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('schools remains', 'holidays provides'), missing articles, and incorrect sentence structures ('People, believe long period of holidays offers much advantages argue by saying'). The range of structures is very limited, consisting mostly of simple sentences. To improve, you need to focus on basic sentence construction, subject-verb agreement, and the correct use of articles. Practicing complex sentence structures will also help you move toward a higher band score.

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

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