Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

In many countries specially in Asian countries primary and secondary schools remain close for two to three months during summer vacations. In my country schools even universities remain close during summer because it is beleive that students need protection from sun and it is good for them to remain at home during hot weather. It is even good for students but i think close schools for a ong time would be harmful for students and for their aducation.There are some reasons which can effect the students education during vacations.

First of all, when government closes the schools for summer vacations their purpuse is to save the students from hot weather. However, I think people in summer vacations spend their most time in outdoor actvities. For example, many people on vacations go to their relatives houses to spend their holidays. Many people spend whole of vacations months in their grandparents houses. So, If they can visit to their relatives houses they also can go to schools during summer.

I my opinion government should close the schools but not for too long. Instead closing schools for two and three months, it should be no more than half a month. It could be beneficial for students in many way. For example, during long vacations most of students forget their previous sllybus. They do not even remember what they were learn before vacations. Hence, they have to start again to revice sllybus.

In summer government can change the schools hours instead of closing it.For example schools can be open early in the morning and close before 12pm because its time when the rays of sun not effect too much. That's why, I concluded that schools shuld not close for a long time and I am totaly agree with shorter schools holidays.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favor of shorter ones. A clear position is established and maintained throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on weather protection and outdoor activities is underdeveloped. While the prompt asks for values and arguments, the ideas tend to over-generalize and lack deep elaboration with robust examples. For instance, mentioning that students forget their syllabus is a valid point, but it is not sufficiently extended with specific consequences. This places the response comfortably at Band 6, as it addresses all parts of the task with relevant ideas, though some are under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used, though paragraph breaks are occasionally misplaced or missing, such as the abrupt transition in the final paragraph. Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes mechanical or repetitive, such as 'First of all', 'For example', and 'That's why'. Referencing is generally clear, but logical progression between sentences occasionally falters, making the flow somewhat choppy. Overall, the organizational structure meets the criteria for Band 5.5 to 6.0, best represented by a band score of 6.0 due to clear overall progression despite some faulty cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common words and phrases like 'protection from sun', 'outdoor activities', and 'beneficial for students'. However, there are frequent spelling errors ('beleive', 'ong', 'aducation', 'effect' instead of 'affect', 'purpuse', 'actvities', 'sllybus', 'revice', 'shuld', 'totaly') and word-choice inaccuracies ('close' instead of 'closed', 'close schools for a ong time'). These lexical errors occasionally strain the reader, although communication is not severely impeded. This performance aligns with the Band 5 descriptors, reflecting a limited vocabulary with noticeable spelling and word choice errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional structures ('So, If they can visit to their relatives houses they also can go to schools during summer'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding verb forms, auxiliary verbs, and prepositions ('schools remain close' instead of 'closed', 'spend their most time', 'can visit to their relatives houses', 'Instead closing' instead of 'Instead of closing'). Punctuation is also weak, with missing commas and fused sentences. While complex structures are attempted, they are frequently faulty. This corresponds to the Band 5 descriptor, where frequent errors in grammar and punctuation cause some difficulty for the reader.

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

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