Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

In recent years, summer holidays in primary and secondary schools trend are incresingly popular. This essay will discuss why is the value of long school holidays and argue that schools reduce the holiday.

One main reason is that students spend quality time with their parents and learn different acitivity. since students spend half of the time in the school and take so many acedemic exams that time students feels fustraste and streesful, holidays which allows students to relax and give their time on follow their hobbies and learn new skills. Although long holiday may be long period of break from study, it could reduce the strees level and students enjoy their vacations with their parents, When students take long holiday they would explore diffrent place and culture, which is borden knowledge. For example, many foreign countries summer vacation is a essential part of their school. That long vacation students open their own shops and learn the new skills like how to become financial independent and make a money for their summer vacation hoilday. As a result, holiday helps to learn new skills and connecte with different people.

The arguments in favour of shorter school holidays is that students should focus on more acdemic study. By providing shorter school holiday pupils prepare for their next semester study. If schools may reduce the holiday months, more students will concenrate on their next study and work on their weaker areas. students which can be serious about acedamic study and career. for example, Many schools in summar vacation arrange the seminars and learn different skills and also tech them to profeesional carrer related.

In conclusion, The long schools holidays are play a crucial role in students academic life, which is helps to relax and spend time with their parents, while shorter school holidays also significant it can help students to better result and prepare for next semester.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones. The student presents a clear position throughout the essay. Ideas are generally relevant, covering aspects such as relaxation, family time, and skill-building for long holidays, alongside academic focus for shorter ones. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on hobbies and financial independence lacks fully realised supporting details, tending to over-generalise. While all parts of the prompt are addressed, the depth of argumentation aligns more closely with Band 6 descriptors, as some ideas remain under-developed or unclear due to expression issues.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the response into introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate different aspects of the prompt. However, cohesion within and between sentences is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, transitional phrases and referencing are occasionally awkward, as seen in 'students which can be serious about acedamic study'. The progression of ideas is occasionally obscured by grammatical inaccuracies and abrupt shifts between points. Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes inaccurately, reflecting the characteristics of a Band 5.5 to 6.0 performance. A score of 5.5 is appropriate here as the organisational flow is hindered by mechanical referencing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'financial independent', 'profeesional carrer', and 'borden knowledge'. However, there are frequent errors in word choice, spelling, and word formation, such as 'incresingly', 'acitivity', 'acedemic', 'fustraste', 'streesful', 'streed', and 'concenrate'. These lexical errors and awkward collocations sometimes impede communication and reveal a limited control over word formation and spelling. The vocabulary range is minimally adequate to convey basic meaning, fitting the Band 5 descriptor well.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating clauses with 'although', 'which', and 'if'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak throughout the text, featuring frequent errors in verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and sentence structure. Examples include 'why is the value', 'holiday which allows', 'time students feels', 'When students take long holiday they would explore', and 'The arguments... is that'. These frequent errors in grammar and punctuation can cause difficulty for the reader and prevent the text from achieving a higher band. The structural range is limited and plagued by persistent errors, justifying a Band 5.0 score.

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

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