Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-13

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 6.0)

In the contemporary era, with an increase in education level, time to time break should be provided to the learners. Thus, primary and secondary schools in many parts of the world remain closed for about two months or more during the time of summer vacations. Subsequent paragraphs will discuss some prominent rationales before presenting a concise conclusion.

Analysing the statement and explaining further, the most preponderant reason for having longer holidays is that it provide a break to the pupils from their hectic schedule. To be more precise, the students have to concentrate on their studies for scoring highest grades in the academics and thus by having a break they will relax themselves and can also spend time with family members. Not only this, but also the learners have to concentrate on extra curricular activities for the whole growth and development of the body. To elaborate this, they have a good chance to allocate their time in other skills such as singing, dancing, art and craft as well as cooking because it is fruitful for them to achieve in these skills and can make their career in future.

Although there are pros of having longer holidays, the merits of shorter holidays cannot be overlooked. Probing ahead, the first and the foremost one is that it will provide enough time to the institute authorities to complete the syllabus of the students on time and conduct regular testing because most parents complains that the schools fails to take regular test to check the capabilities of the children. Secondary, the pupils do not forget the importance of books and notes as in long duration holidays, they will find a gap with the books which is not acceptable at any cost.

By summing up the above details, even though there are merits of long holidays, the advantages of the short term vacations cannot be neglected.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones. The position is clear throughout, and the main ideas are extended and supported with relevant explanations, such as mentioning stress relief, family time, and extracurricular pursuits for the first part, and syllabus completion and continuous learning for the second. However, the development tends to be slightly repetitive in places, and some points are over-generalised rather than deeply explored. This aligns well with the Band 6.5 to 7.0 descriptors, specifically matching Band 7 for addressing all parts with a clear position, though ideas could be slightly more fully extended.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. The writer uses standard introductory and concluding paragraphs and organises body paragraphs according to the prompt questions. Cohesive devices are used to signal logical progression, such as 'Analysing the statement and explaining further', 'To be more precise', and 'Although there are pros'. However, some transitional phrases feel a bit mechanical or formulaic, typical of template usage (e.g., 'Subsequent paragraphs will discuss some prominent rationales before presenting a concise conclusion'). Paragraphing is generally used appropriately, though the transition between ideas could be smoother. This corresponds closely to Band 6.0 or 6.5, leaning towards Band 6 due to mechanical cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task and attempts less common lexical items such as 'preponderant', 'extracurricular', and 'rationales'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and word form. For instance, the writer uses 'most parents complains' instead of 'complain', 'whole growth' instead of 'overall growth', and 'Secondary' instead of 'Secondly'. Despite these lexical errors and some minor spelling/grammatical confusions, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning without impeding communication. These features reflect the Band 6 descriptor criteria for lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over subordination and relative clauses (e.g., 'students have to concentrate on their studies for scoring highest grades... and thus by having a break they will relax themselves'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('it provide', 'schools fails'), incorrect prepositions, and awkward phrasing ('find a gap with the books'). Although these errors are noticeable, they rarely impede overall communication. The presence of these errors alongside mixed structures places this response firmly in the Band 6 category.

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

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