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)

Over the decades there has been drastic shift in terms of holidays. Certainly, in summers, primary and secondary schools remain close for two or more months in numerous nations. I shed same light on the pros of long holidays and arguments in support of fewer holidays for which vindication would be elaboreted in the upcoming paragraphs.

To intigate with, there are various advantages of having long school holidays. The first and foremost is, explore new places. To elucidate it, when pupils have more holidays then they go on a trip with their parents and they explore new places and get information about other cultures. Apart from this, in vacations, students take part in many activities like sports, dance, singing, etc and these activities are beneficial for their personal growth. Pupils also get break from their studies and they feel relaxed. As a conseques, students adopt new skills and experience.

On the other hand, there are also same benefits of short holidays. Firstly, better performance in academic. To justify it, when students have few holidays then they do not forget their studies and after a short break they feel fresh and perform brilliant in their academic. Furthermore, more productive. To explain it, when pupils take few days off then they learn more things which are good for their studies and they also feel motivated and do hard work to get great marks in examinations. As an aftermath, the future of students became secure and they also became successful in their life.

In conclusion, after taking all aspects into my consideration. I would like to ingeminate that there are many merits of having long holidays such as students take participate in new activities and they easily explore new places while advantages of short holidays are less loss of learning and more productive.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the value of long holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. However, the development of ideas remains somewhat superficial. For instance, the discussion on long holidays mentions exploring new places and personal growth through activities like sports, but these points are underdeveloped and lack specific examples. Similarly, the arguments for shorter breaks focus broadly on academic performance without deep elaboration. While a clear position is established and maintained throughout, the ideas would benefit from greater extension and concrete illustration to reach higher band levels. Overall, the task is adequately addressed in line with Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, using introductory and concluding paragraphs alongside distinct body paragraphs for each prompt requirement. However, cohesion is frequently faulty or mechanical. The student relies on repetitive transitional phrases such as 'To intigate with', 'To elucidate it', and 'As a conseques' (which contains spelling errors). Referencing and linking devices are sometimes awkward, indicating an over-reliance on rigid formulaic connectors rather than smooth, natural progression between ideas. Paragraphing is present and generally appropriate, but the internal mechanical flow prevents the essay from reaching a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic ideas about holidays and education. There are several attempts at less common vocabulary, but these are frequently marred by awkward word choices, incorrect forms, or spelling errors, such as 'drastic shift', 'elaboreted', 'intigate', and 'conseques'. Phrases like 'shed same light' instead of 'shed some light' and 'perform brilliant' instead of 'perform brilliantly' demonstrate noticeable inaccuracies. While communication is not severely impeded, these lexical errors and a limited range of sophisticated terminology place this performance firmly at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in structure. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors occurring throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb and tense inconsistencies such as 'remain close' instead of 'remain closed', 'students take participate' instead of 'students participate', and 'future of students became secure'. Punctuation is also problematic, notably in the conclusion where a full stop incorrectly breaks a conditional structure ('...into my consideration. I would like...'). These recurring errors can cause occasional difficulty for the reader, aligning the grammar with Band 5.0.

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

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