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)

Longer school holidays are much more valuable because students spend more time in learning household chores and spending more time with family, also longer school holidays can be good as students get break from their studies and they get time to focus on themselves and on thier lives because during school time students don't have much time to give to themselves which is not a good thing. Longer holidays build a student more athletic as they make friends rather than school and play various sports which results in athleticism. In longer vacations students can travel and visit different places or travel to different countries and know their culture, food, dressing etc which gives us knowledge of that country.

While longer holidays gives students advantage but there are also consequences of it because many students not have the ability to stay too much time without studying and longer holidays can break that because the longer the holidays the more the distance from study increases and shorter holidays provide students enough break from studies which is so much beneficial than longer holidays, moreover shorter holidays can give student a short time to work on them and to start preparing for the next class and get involved into studies fast.

As for me shorter holidays are more preferable because the holidays are enough for the student to focus on themselves and go on a vacation and a short period of time with family which is enough. During my time there were short holidays of 1.5 to 2 months and they were sufficient for me because in that i was able to catch the new concept of class faster which was much more beneficial for me.

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 somewhat superficial. The ideas regarding 'athleticism' and 'household chores' are mentioned but not fully explored or supported with concrete examples. The position is clear, but the argument lacks depth and academic rigor. To improve, you should expand on your points with more detailed explanations or specific examples, ensuring that each paragraph provides a balanced and thorough discussion of the prompt's requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into three paragraphs, which is a logical structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive. For example, the transition 'While longer holidays gives students advantage but there are also consequences' is grammatically awkward and lacks a smooth flow. Additionally, the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the use of 'that' in 'the longer the holidays the more the distance from study increases and shorter holidays provide students enough break from studies which is so much beneficial'. More varied linking words and better sentence-to-sentence connection would improve the flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety expected at higher bands. You rely on basic terms like 'good', 'much', and 'things'. There are also some issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'build a student more athletic' (should be 'help students become more athletic') and 'catch the new concept' (should be 'grasp new concepts'). To achieve a higher score, try to incorporate more sophisticated vocabulary and idiomatic expressions related to education and personal development.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede readability. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('longer holidays gives'), missing articles ('in learning household chores'), and awkward phrasing ('which is so much beneficial'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with several run-on sentences that lack proper conjunctions or full stops. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction and proofreading for common errors like pluralization and verb tense consistency.

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

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