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)

Educational institutions for children, both primary and secondary across several countries around the world provide long summer break.

Such long summer break are of great value and importance to children as well as parents as it is a period of relaxation for them. Although, some there are some group of individuals who often demand shorter holidays.

Students have to attend school everyday for several months from 8am to 2pm. They have to wake up early in the morning. In addition, some group of student have to attend evening classes as well. Not only students but their guardians have to wake up early and prepare them for school. After long months of assessments, hardwork and strict routine, students and their parents often look forward to the two months long break. This break provide an opportunity for recreation for everyone. Moreover, any emergrncy duties or procedure such as any surgical procedure are usually completed during this period of break. This long term break also enable students to gain numerous skill by enrolling in various activities like summer camp, karate sewing etc.

Such long breaks can be troublesome for some group of individuals especially the working parents. As they will have to arrange caretakers for the children in their absence. Children at home can also be a disturbance especially for those doing remote jobs from home.

Long school breaks are valuable for the children both mentally and physically though shorter school breaks enable working individuals to focus on their work. In my opinion long school holidays are valuable for mental peace.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the value of long school holidays (recreation, medical procedures, skill development) and the arguments in favour of shorter ones (working parents' struggles, childcare, and disruptions for remote workers). A clear position is presented throughout the essay and reiterated in the conclusion. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or presented as lists rather than fully extended arguments. For instance, the mention of surgical procedures is somewhat abrupt and lacks context. Despite these minor limitations, all key aspects of the prompt are covered, which aligns well with the requirements for Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to body paragraphs discussing benefits, then drawbacks, and finally the conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct themes. However, cohesion at the sentence level is occasionally mechanical or faulty. For example, the sentence 'Although, some there are some group of individuals who often demand shorter holidays' contains awkward phrasing and punctuation. Additionally, referencing is sometimes repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'such long summer break' or 'such long breaks'. These features indicate a level consistent with a Band 6.0 score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'educational institutions', 'recreation', and 'assessments'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'Such long summer break are' (plural/singular agreement error) and 'numerous skill' (missing plural 's'). Spelling errors also occur, such as 'emergrncy'. While these lexical slips do not impede overall communication, they prevent the essay from reaching higher bands. The vocabulary used is sufficient for a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over sentence structure (e.g., 'Not only students but their guardians have to wake up...'). However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, such as missing articles, incorrect singular/plural agreements ('Such long summer break are'), and sentence fragments ('like summer camp, karate sewing etc.'). While these errors do not severely impede communication, they are noticeable and occur regularly, placing the response firmly at the Band 5.5 to 6.0 threshold. On balance, a Band 6.0 is awarded as simple structures are generally accurate.

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

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