Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

In recent years, there has been growing debate about whether primary and secondary schools should close for two months or more during the summer vacations. From my perspective, both arguments are equally important for individuals and society. Although extended holidays provide a break from stressful workload to students, I believe shorter vacations provide a better understanding of practical skills and improve academic performance.

On the one hand, there are several arguments which contribute to in favor of extended school vacations. Longer school holidays provide more time to relax and help student unwind because learners are frustrated due to heavy workload. Moreover, students feel stressed because of regular assignments and tests. Therefore, they have need more time to enjoy their own leisure time with their favorite activities. For instance, students can take part in extracurricular activities, such as sports and swimming. Students could spend more time with family and enjoy leisure hours during extended holidays.

On the other hand, shorter holidays also provide some benefits to students, such as they are able to review their syllabus without forgetting their previous topics. As a result, they need less revision when they return to school and improve academic performance. For example, students who have less study break may remember mathematical and communication skills. Despite this, shorter holidays are more beneficial for the working parents because they have less need to look after their children.

In conclusion, longer school vacations provide an opportunities for student to spend more time with parents, whereas shorter holidays important for academic performance.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones, as well as stating a clear position in the introduction. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed, such as mentioning stress reduction and extracurricular activities for the first part, and syllabus retention and working parents for the second. However, some ideas are slightly repetitive, such as the repeated mentions of students feeling stressed and needing time to relax in the second paragraph. There is a tendency to over-generalise or state points without deeper extension, which aligns well with a Band 6.5 or Band 7 performance. Overall, the prompt requirements are fully met with a clear logical stance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a clear overall progression with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs addressing each side of the prompt, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', 'Moreover', and 'In conclusion' are employed to guide the reader through the text. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen with awkward transitional phrasing like 'contribute to in favor of' and repetitive sentence structures ('Students can...', 'Students could...'). Furthermore, the conclusion is overly brief and abrupt. These features demonstrate the characteristics of Band 6 cohesion and logical organisation.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'extracurricular activities', 'syllabus', and 'practical skills'. However, there are noticeable limitations and inaccuracies in word choice and collocation throughout the essay. Examples include 'stressful workload' instead of 'heavy workload', 'frustrated due to heavy workload' (frustrated is rarely used to describe workload itself), and 'have need more time'. Spelling is generally accurate, but lexical control is inconsistent. The vocabulary is sufficient to communicate meaning clearly, but frequent minor lexical inaccuracies prevent the response from achieving a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures. However, there are several noticeable grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout the text. Examples include 'contribute to in favor of', 'help student unwind' (missing plural), 'they have need more time', and 'provide an opportunities' (plural mismatch). While these errors do not severely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to show a lack of consistent control over complex grammar. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical accuracy falls short of the higher band descriptors where error-free sentences should dominate.

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

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