Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-25

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)

Without any iota of doubt, holidays have been an important part of students, if they use it properly. In most of the nations, education insitutions close for two months or more in the summer vacations. In this essay, I would like to shed light on values of longs vacations as well as argument in favour of small vacations.

Apparently, if students can utilise their vacations on learning new skills, it is good to have longer vacations. To explain it more, students mostly get vacations of approximately 2 months, in which they can join many skill training classes, which take their 2-3 hours in a day, but more beneficial for their future. Along with that, they can also go for travelling to different locations, with boost their confidence, communication skills and body language.

However, short vacations are also a good for many reasons, the first one is that, they give chance to students for relax and, this also don't change their base of study like long holidays. To justify it more, when students get holidays for few days, they get a chance to relax their mind and after vacations, when they come to schools they can easily concentrate on their studies because they don't use their brain anything in vacation days.

In crux, longer vacations are important because it helps students to develop life-skills, however, shorter vacations are good for relaxation of brain.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the value of long holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. However, the development of ideas is limited due to the brevity of the essay. The word count is below the 250-word minimum, which significantly impacts the depth of the arguments. For instance, the point about 'relaxing the brain' is repetitive and lacks specific examples or a more sophisticated explanation. To reach a higher band, you must expand your points with more detailed reasoning and illustrative examples to ensure the response is fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into clear paragraphs, and there is a logical progression from the introduction to the body paragraphs and the conclusion. You use some cohesive devices such as 'In this essay', 'To explain it more', and 'However'. However, some transitions feel mechanical or slightly unnatural, such as 'In crux', which is not a standard idiomatic expression. The referencing is generally clear, but the overall flow could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to connect sentences more fluidly rather than relying on simple transitional phrases.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for a higher band. You use some basic terms like 'good' and 'important' repeatedly. There are also some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'base of study' and 'don't use their brain anything'. While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of more sophisticated or academic vocabulary limits the score. To improve, focus on using more precise synonyms and learning common collocations related to education and personal development.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'holidays have been an important part of students' (should be 'students' lives'), 'with boost their confidence' (should be 'which boosts'), and 'this also don't change' (should be 'this also does not change'). Punctuation is generally functional, but these recurring errors in subject-verb agreement and relative clauses prevent the writing from being considered error-free. Increasing your control over complex structures will help improve your score.

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

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