Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

In most of the countries, school close for two months or more in the summar holidays. Some people think more holidays are good for childerns. While majority of the people think opposite of that. We will discuss the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter school holidays.

In my opinion, long school holidays are very essential and plays an important role in the interest of the students. This is because, students will study better if they have enough time for rest and their personal life. When students study for months, they fell depressed and need some time to rest and also for their personal life. For example, when i was a student of secondary school, i feel tired for studying many hours in a day and have no time for my personal life.

But if students have enougf time for rest every week, shorter school holidays are perfect. Students should have enough time to rest every day so that he can concentrate on his studies. The countries with shorter school holidays have to give at least 3 holidays per week so that the students have enough time for their personal life and for rest.

this is concluded that long school holidays are essential for the student`s interest in studies and have enough time for rest. But the countried with shorter school holidays should gave three holidays per month so that the students can concentrate on their studies an have enough time for rest an their personal life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. A personal position is stated, although the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on long holidays focuses heavily on the idea of rest and personal life, such as when the writer states, "students will study better if they have enough time for rest and their personal life." The arguments for shorter holidays become slightly confused, drifting into suggestions about weekly or monthly holidays rather than addressing shorter summer breaks specifically. This leads to under-developed arguments that prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. Overall, the prompt is adequately addressed, placing the response at a Band 5.5 level for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is divided into four paragraphs, showing a basic attempt at structuring an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, the logical progression is frequently disrupted by awkward transitions and repetitive ideas. While basic cohesive devices such as 'This is because', 'For example', and 'But' are used, referencing is sometimes unclear, such as shifting pronouns confusingly between plural and singular in phrases like 'so that he can concentrate'. Paragraphing is present, but the overall internal flow of the body paragraphs lacks seamless cohesion. The conclusion summarises the main points, albeit with redundant phrasing. These features align closely with the Band 5 descriptors for Coherence and Cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive, frequently reusing terms such as 'school holidays', 'rest', 'personal life', and 'concentrate'. There are several spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'summar' instead of 'summer', 'childerns' instead of 'children', 'enougf' instead of 'enough', 'countried' instead of 'countries', and 'gave' instead of 'give'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they highlight a restricted lexical range that struggles to move beyond simple, everyday language. Attempts at less common vocabulary are minimal or inaccurate, firmly placing this response in the Band 5 category for Lexical Resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though complex structures are frequently flawed. There are numerous grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('school close' instead of 'schools close', 'plays' instead of 'play'), tense inconsistencies ('i was a student... I feel tired'), and awkward phrasing ('this is concluded that'). Pronoun agreement is also problematic, as seen in 'so that he can concentrate' following a plural subject 'students'. These frequent errors can occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, although meaning is generally retrievable. This performance is consistent with the criteria for Band 5.0.

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

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