Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-15

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 today's contemporary society, summer holidays have become increasingly popular among schools. It is often argued that this time period helps students to enhance their creativity and unwind while others believe time span of holidays should be shorter than two months. I strongly agree with the statement of two to three months of holidays given to students and in this essay I will explain why.

One of the main davantages of long vacation is that it encourages creativity among students. The students are encouraged to work on different projects given in homework which not only braodens their perspectives but also teaches them to apply their theortical knowledge into real life. For instance, they are required to work on the projects of recycling which encourages students to make useful and attractive items from recycled materials. Secondly, long vacations allow them to unwind by going to a family trip, which not only give them the exposure of different places but only give them the opportunity to learn about different areas and their customs and traditions. In addition, two to three months of holidays allow students to come back to school with fresh minds and active body.

By contast, some people believe that summer holidays time span should be shorter because it distracts student from studies and disrupts their academic schedule and active lifestyle. Though, it is correct to some extent because it gives students leniency. For example, in vacations students are less likely to perform well as they use to do in schools as they are far away from the competitive environment. Though, this can be controlled by school management like giving proper summer homework, conducting students online meetings after every 15 months in which they can analyze the reports of students from time to time.

All things considered, although long vacations can make students lazy and distract them from a proper track, I believe this can be reduced by the proper counselling and the checking of students. I agree that the advantages of long holidays outweigh its disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

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, while clearly stating a personal position. The student explores key ideas such as enhancing creativity, encouraging practical projects, and allowing students to unwind, alongside counter-arguments regarding academic disruption and loss of routine. However, some arguments are slightly repetitive or underdeveloped. For instance, the reference to online meetings occurring 'after every 15 months' contains a logical contradiction or confusion regarding timeframes. Despite minor development slips, the writer maintains a clear position throughout, fulfilling the requirements for Band 6.5, which aligns with the Band 6 descriptor for addressing all parts of the task with relevant ideas, though some parts could be more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used to signal shifts between ideas, such as 'One of the main davantages', 'Secondly', and 'By contast'. However, there are some mechanical transitions and occasional referencing errors, such as 'not only give them the exposure... but only give them the opportunity'. Paragraphing is generally logical, grouping the benefits of long holidays together and separating the counter-arguments into a distinct paragraph. Although referencing is sometimes repetitive and cohesion lacks the flexibility expected at higher bands, the overall progression remains clear, comfortably satisfying the requirements of a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student attempts a range of vocabulary suitable for an academic discussion, including terms like 'contemporary society', 'theortical knowledge', 'competitive environment', and 'academic schedule'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, such as 'davantages' instead of disadvantages, 'braodens' instead of broadens, 'theortical' instead of theoretical, and 'contast' instead of contrast. Additionally, some collocations are awkward, such as 'active body'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they reflect the characteristics of Band 6, where the vocabulary is adequate for the task and attempts less common items, but contains recurrent spelling and word-choice inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures such as 'In today's contemporary society, summer holidays have become...' and 'Though, this can be controlled by school management like giving proper summer homework...'. Grammatical errors and punctuation slips are present throughout the essay. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('The students are encouraged... which not only braodens... but also teaches'), incorrect prepositions ('going to a family trip' instead of 'on'), and fragment sentences starting with 'Though,'. Despite these frequent minor errors, they rarely impede overall communication, placing the response firmly in the Band 6 category where a mix of simple and complex structures is used with some errors present.

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