Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-21
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)
Efficient education system plays a vital role in children's life as it shape the overall growth of students growth. Considering this, primary and secondary schools provide longer holiday breaks in warm weather for almost 2 months or more. This essay with delineates the cause of long holidays as well as some arguments which are in favour of shorter holidays.
Beyond doubt, there are several compelling reasons justifying the former view. The most prominent one is health disease. Due to extreme warm weather, curriculum of student might affected by several skin infection. As a result, they missed their study that impact on their overall result and examination. For example, many countries like India, children get holidays not to affected by such disorder and can stay healthy. Apart from this, some countries provide longer holidays because of it necessity, so that they can feel relief from their tution and extra load. This helps them to get refreshed from their study and help them to rejuvenate their minds. Thus, longer holidays contribute significantly for students as well as faculties.
On the other side, there are several factors favour in shorter vacations. The most prominent one is lack of focus. because longer holidays tend to make student lazy and less focused. It is necessary to provide them least free days as holidays. For example, many countries like Chine where primary and secondary school offer shorter holidays to maintain discipline among pupils. Another significant concern is that curriculum will not completed if students get offered longer holidays. For that reason, many education system provides least free days to tutors. Therefore, shorter holidays favoured by several education systems .
To conclude, although there are many benefits contributed in favour of longer holidays, i believe that students get offered shorter free days in summer to enjoy as vacation due to its adverse impacts such as laziness and lack of focus.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The essay addresses both parts of the prompt: the value of long holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. The position is clear throughout. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the argument regarding 'health disease' due to warm weather is a bit tenuous and lacks a logical link to the school calendar. The points about 'lack of focus' and 'curriculum completion' are more relevant but could be expanded with more sophisticated reasoning. The response covers all requirements, but the depth of analysis is consistent with a mid-range band.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Beyond doubt', 'Apart from this', and 'On the other side', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions feel mechanical or slightly unnatural, such as 'This essay with delineates'. Additionally, there are instances where referencing is slightly unclear, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two main viewpoints, which helps the overall structure.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to express their ideas clearly. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'rejuvenate' and 'compelling', which is positive. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'health disease' instead of 'health issues' or 'illness', and 'least free days' instead of 'fewer holidays'. These errors do not impede communication but indicate a need for more precise word usage.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('curriculum of student might affected', 'many education system provides'), missing articles, and incorrect preposition usage ('contributed in favour of'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with spacing before commas. These errors occur frequently, though they rarely prevent the reader from understanding the intended message.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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