Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-19

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 6.5)

Primary and secondary academic institutions close for two months or more during the summer period for holidays in many countries. This essay will answer the importance of long school holidays and argue the benefits of shorter school breaks.

Children attend schools almost everyday for the purpose of acquiring education without going on holidays. Therefore, it is very important for educational facilities to allow children have long school holidays during the summer period. This will help children maintain a good school and leisure life balance and it will prevent burn out from school work among the students. Long school holidays give children an opportunity to take a break from school work and spend more time with their family. It encourages bonding among children and family members. However, with long summer breaks, children can travel to different places in the world and they can also use the opportunity to learn a new skill that will be advantageous to them in school. This is also beneficial to schools because after students return from a long summer break, they tend to be more active and productive with school work, which promotes an excellent academic result.

I agree that schools should also grant children short holidays because it will help them take some time off from school activities. Children can use this short breaks to see their parents and parents can also use this short holidays to do certain things for their kids such as medical checkup. For example, when a child is granted five days holiday from school, parents can use this opportunity to take their kid to the hospital for a dental appointment. Adults can use short academic holidays to buy certain things for their child before they return back to school.

In conclusion, I strongly agree that both long and short school holidays are essential for students. Although both holidays are important for promoting the wellbeing of a child, they are also beneficial for both parents and academic institutions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the value of long holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. The ideas are relevant, such as the need for work-life balance and the practical benefits for parents. However, the development is somewhat repetitive; for instance, the benefits of 'bonding' and 'learning new skills' are mentioned but not deeply explored. The position is clear throughout, but the argument for shorter holidays is slightly underdeveloped compared to the first section. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is supported by more specific, extended examples rather than general statements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two main ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'Therefore', 'However', and 'In conclusion' are used to link ideas, although some transitions feel a bit mechanical. The progression of ideas is generally clear, though the link between the second and third paragraphs could be smoother. Referencing is mostly accurate, though the repetition of 'short holidays' and 'long holidays' makes the flow slightly predictable. Overall, the structure is coherent and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to express ideas clearly. There is some attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'educational facilities', 'academic institutions', and 'wellbeing'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there is a reliance on basic phrasing. Some collocations are slightly unnatural, such as 'promote an excellent academic result' or 'do certain things for their kids'. To improve, the student should focus on using more precise academic collocations and varying their word choice to avoid repetition of simple terms like 'things' or 'good'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is consistently clear, there are recurring grammatical errors. For example, 'allow children have' should be 'allow children to have', and 'return back' is redundant. There are also minor issues with articles and pluralization, such as 'a dental appointment' (which is correct) contrasted with 'a new skill' (which is fine, but the surrounding context is sometimes clunky). The punctuation is generally accurate, but the sentence variety could be improved by incorporating more sophisticated subordinate clauses to demonstrate better control.

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