Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-18

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)

Holidays are very important aspect in the students life, the summer holiday season is the one which all the students wait some schools give shorter holiday for educations purpose and some gives longer school holidays for the children to have free mind and they can focus in the remaining years

In summers holidays students have longer break so they can spend time with their loved ones and can be stressed free for the remaining time of the year and focus on their studies , spending time with the family is very much important they can take trips and enjoy the world in this holidays. Since they have free time and not have load in their minds they can develop new goods habits or they can follow their interests that's why the long holidays of summer value more then the shorter holidays

However, The schools which close for more then two months for summer holidays is not good for the children's education because if a students having longer breaks then it is possible that they will lose the habit of study and will have trouble in the near future it can affect their results and mental health also sometimes the courses remain in some subjects since lot of days school has been close teachers have to recall the old things which had been already teach therefore it is important to have shorter school holidays in summer holidays

overall it is important to focus both student's happiness and studies and have to give holidays according to them

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 is quite basic. The ideas, such as 'spending time with family' and 'losing the habit of study', are mentioned but not fully extended with specific examples or deeper analysis. The position is clear, but the overall structure lacks the depth required for a higher band. To improve, you should provide more concrete examples or elaborate on the consequences of these holiday lengths to demonstrate a more sophisticated understanding of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which is a positive step. However, the flow between and within sentences is often mechanical. There is a lack of varied cohesive devices; for example, the transition between the benefits of long holidays and the drawbacks is abrupt. The use of punctuation is inconsistent, with many run-on sentences and missing commas, which makes the logical progression difficult to follow. Improving the use of linking words such as 'consequently', 'furthermore', or 'on the other hand' would significantly enhance the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally limited and repetitive. You rely on basic phrases like 'very important', 'good', and 'have to'. There are also errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'have load in their minds' instead of 'burdened' or 'stressed', and 'recall the old things' instead of 'review previous material'. While the meaning is generally clear, the range of vocabulary is not sufficient to express complex ideas with precision. You should aim to incorporate more topic-specific collocations and avoid repeating the same basic adjectives.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains frequent grammatical errors that often impede readability. There are significant issues with sentence structure, including run-on sentences and comma splices (e.g., '...students wait some schools give...'). Subject-verb agreement is also inconsistent, such as 'some gives' and 'teachers have to recall the old things which had been already teach'. The range of structures is limited, consisting mostly of simple or poorly connected compound sentences. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence boundaries and ensuring correct verb forms and tense usage throughout your writing.

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

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