Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-29

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)

Many countries prefer long summer holidays while some countries don’t. Actually, there are lots of benefits for long holidays but some people argument for shorter holidays.

We can find a lot of countries where primary and secondary school children enjoy a long summer vacation which can be up to two months or more. To be honest, long vacation has a enormous benefits. For example, students can relaxe for a certain period after spending a long exhausted busy days. They can become productive and gain other necessary skills. According to my personal experience, when I was in primary and secondary school, during my summer vacation, I used to go to my home town. As a city kid, this time was very important for me as I could explore villages and learn about village lifestyle and culture. Not only these, I improved my computer skills, cooking skills, learned art and read story books during this period.

Despite all these benefits, some people believe that summer vacation should be shorter. There are many reasons for these arguments while the main reason is a lot of students waste this time in vain. As they are free of studies, they spend all the time of vacation playing vedio games and watching unnecessary vedios and spend a lot of time on social media. Some critics also believe that if they had shorter summer holly days they would have spend some times relaxing and eventually go back to study as school starts.

Therefore, students should be given long summer holy days but we have to encourage them to spend their vacation being productive rather than wasting time in vain.

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. The position is clear throughout. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you provide personal examples, the arguments regarding the 'value' of holidays and the 'arguments in favour of shorter holidays' could be more deeply explored with broader societal or educational perspectives rather than relying heavily on personal anecdotes. The conclusion is brief and does not fully synthesize the points made. To reach a higher band, ensure that each body paragraph provides a more comprehensive analysis of the implications of these school schedules.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, each with a clear focus. There is a basic progression of ideas from the benefits of long holidays to the counter-arguments. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive (e.g., 'For example', 'Despite all these benefits', 'Therefore'). Some transitions between sentences feel abrupt, and the referencing could be smoother. For instance, the transition between the benefits of personal skill-building and the critique of wasting time could be better linked to improve the flow of the argument. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two main viewpoints.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, allowing you to express your ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'productive' and 'critics', but there are also several spelling errors (e.g., 'relaxe', 'holly days', 'vedios') and word choice issues (e.g., 'argument' used as a verb instead of 'argue', 'in vain' used slightly incorrectly in context). While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precision and attention to spelling to reach a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('long vacation has a enormous benefits') and article usage ('a enormous'). Some sentence structures are slightly awkward, such as 'some people argument for shorter holidays'. While you attempt complex sentences, they are not always error-free. Punctuation is generally functional, but the frequency of minor grammatical slips prevents the writing from being considered highly accurate. Focusing on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article consistency would significantly improve your score.

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