Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Summer holidays are the favorite type of holidays for students all over the world. Students from every generation looked forward to the summer break. Primary and secondary schools in many countries are closed for two months, or some even more in the summer. North American schools for example, have summer breaks that start at the beginning of July and end towards the first week of September. However, in India, the summer vacation only lasts for a month - May. There have been arguments whether the schools should have longer or shorter school breaks.

Firstly, North American and some European countries believe that long summer holidays are essential for the growth of students. They say, the extended break gives sufficient time to the student to relax and focus on personal growth. It gives the students the opportunities to engage in extracurriculars like joining a sports club or learning an instrument, for which they might not have enough time during the school year. Moreover, this also allows secondary school students to work a part time or a full time job and get some real world experience while also enjoying their break. The students can relax for a month and utilize the other month by doing something which they can't do while regularly attending school.

However, there are serious debates about the extended vacation. The people who oppose the idea of longer breaks claim, that if the student has too much time away from studying, they might grow to not like it when school starts again. School breaks are meant to rest the students, and one month is enough time for them to do so. Many in favour of shorter holidays state that if the students are given too much time to unwind from school work, they might struggle when the school starts again, and this can affect their progress badly.

There are numerous reasons due to which many countries are still practicing a two month summer break despite the debates. They think they are right in their way and the once claiming shorter breaks to be more advantageous think they are right in their own way. And then we have the countries that have breaks for more than two months. Whatever the case, students just appreciate all the time off they get.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

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 personal growth and extracurricular activities for the first part, and the potential for academic regression for the second. However, the development is somewhat superficial. The arguments are presented in a general way without deep analysis or specific examples beyond general mentions of countries. To reach a higher band, the student should provide more detailed explanations or concrete scenarios to support their claims, rather than simply stating that people have different opinions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. The progression of ideas is easy to follow. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Firstly', 'Moreover', and 'However', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are a bit mechanical, and the concluding paragraph is somewhat weak, failing to synthesize the arguments effectively. The referencing is generally clear, but the overall flow could be improved by using a wider variety of cohesive links to connect sentences more fluidly.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to express their ideas clearly. There is some attempt to use topic-specific language like 'extracurriculars', 'real world experience', and 'academic progress'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there is a reliance on simple, repetitive phrasing (e.g., 'they are right in their own way'). There are no significant spelling errors, but the lexical choices lack the precision and sophistication required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the grammar is generally accurate and communication is never impeded, there are some minor errors, such as 'the once claiming' instead of 'those claiming' and occasional punctuation issues, like the unnecessary comma after 'claim' in the third paragraph. The range of structures is sufficient, but more sophisticated grammatical forms, such as conditional sentences or passive voice constructions, are largely absent. The majority of sentences are error-free, which supports a solid score.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.