Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-12

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 5.0)

In a lot of nations, the lower and higher education institutions offer holidays for two months or even several months, during the summer vacations. The different countries have their own vacation time.

The importance of long school vacations is very high .During this summer vacations , the students can improve their abilities. Further it provides the time to relax from high burden of studies. in addition, it help students to improve their health and it provides time to enjoy during vacations. During vacations the students can also go on trip with their friends and families. Students can also improve their skills and mental health to focus on studies for their better education progress. We can spend our leisure time on different hobbies and they can also help their parents in different works. For instance, the students can focus on their physical health by going to the gym. Because lifting weights can build their muscles which improve their confidence.

In contemprary society, a lot of people thought that the school vacations should be shorter because a lot term of absence from studies can effect their progress. Moreover, it also putt laziness on their minds. i

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The response attempts to address both parts of the prompt, discussing the value of long holidays (e.g., relaxation, improving health and skills, pursuing hobbies) and the arguments for shorter holidays (e.g., preventing a decline in progress and inducing laziness). However, the ideas are relatively undeveloped and repetitive, lacking depth and specific examples. More importantly, the response falls significantly short of the required word count, coming in at only 194 words against the 250-word minimum. This under-length severely limits the writer's ability to fully develop the task, resulting in a lower band score for this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay displays some basic organization, separating the introduction, the body paragraph on the value of long holidays, and a brief concluding thought. However, paragraphing is problematic, as the second body paragraph cuts off abruptly with just a single truncated sentence ending in 'i'. Cohesive devices are somewhat mechanical or misused, such as the abrupt transitions ('Further', 'in addition', 'In contemprary society'). Progression is hindered by the repetitive nature of the arguments and the incomplete ending of the essay. Overall cohesion is faulty and lacks clear logical flow throughout.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally basic and repetitive, frequently reusing terms like 'vacations', 'students', 'improve', and 'time'. There are noticeable spelling and word choice errors, such as 'contemprary' instead of contemporary, 'thought' instead of think, and awkward collocations like 'putt laziness on their minds'. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey basic ideas, the limited range and frequent inaccuracies restrict the score to the lower-middle band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control is inconsistent. There are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('it help students') and incorrect tense or modal usage ('a lot term of absence... can effect their progress'). Punctuation and capitalization are also flawed, and the sentence structures frequently lack variety. Frequent errors cause some difficulty and distraction for the reader, though the core meaning usually remains understandable.

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

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