Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-14

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)

Nowadays, A large number of primary and secondary schools have longer summer holidays due to this education activities stop for two or more months. A large segment of people believe that long school holidays have postive effect on child development, while others argue that summer holidays should be shorter.

The major advantage of long school holidays is that children have more time to participate in extracuricular activities. Furthermore students can learn new skills relevant to their interest. This is because during summer holidays numerous technical institutions offer multiple short technical skill courses. As a result, children can learn new practical as well as soft skills

which not only enables them to find out their passion but also helps them

to grow further in education. Therefore, students who enroll in technical trade coursres and actively participate in physical activities during

holidays have clear future goals and healthy mindset. For example, children enrolled in trade courses have more skills and practical experience due to this they perform well not only in class after schools reopening but also more likely active in practical life.

On the other hand, those who support shorter summer holidays argue that it can resulted in loss of their education. This is because during holidays a large number of students not study regularly as well as waste a large amount of time in watching tv and social. Consequently, when schools reopen many students have weak memory due to this they cannot be able to focus on their classroom lesson. In addition, they also forget their class lessons which they studied before holidays and even some students lost their interest in education. For instance, many pakistani primary and secondary schools face shortage of students after long summer holidays this is mainly because they lost interest in education and difficulty in remembering lessons.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that long summer holidays are more beneficial for children because they not only stay active and healthy but also have higher intellect by enrolling and participating in activities and technical short courses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt by discussing the value of long school holidays, such as participation in extracurricular activities, and the arguments in favour of shorter holidays, specifically the risk of educational loss and regression. The writer establishes a clear position in the introduction and reiterates it in the conclusion. Ideas are generally relevant, but some supporting points tend to over-generalise or lack depth, such as the example regarding Pakistani primary schools. Nevertheless, all prompt requirements are met adequately, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptor where all parts of the task are addressed, though some ideas are slightly under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a logical paragraph structure, dividing the introduction, advantages, disadvantages, and conclusion clearly. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Furthermore', 'As a result', and 'On the other hand', although some referencing and transitions feel slightly mechanical. For instance, the transition in the second paragraph ('This is because...') creates some slight tracking issues with pronouns and logical flow. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but overall the progression could be smoother and more sophisticated to reach a higher band level.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts at less common lexical items such as 'extracurricular', 'technical institutions', and 'intellect'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('postive', 'extracuricular', 'coursres', 'pakistani') and awkward word choices or collocations, such as 'healthy mindset' or 'higher intellect'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they reflect the typical constraints of a Band 6 writer who has an adequate range for the task but makes recurrent errors in spelling and word choice.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, attempting subordination through phrases like 'This is because' and 'not only enables them to... but also helps them to...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout the text, including run-on sentences, missing commas, and tense or agreement issues (e.g., 'it can resulted in', 'students not study regularly', 'they cannot be able to focus'). These errors indicate a lack of reliable control over more complex structures, placing the grammar performance firmly at Band 5.0.

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

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