Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-16

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)

The growing prevalence of summer vacations in both primary and secondary schools has prompted a closer examination of its implications for individuals and society as a whole. Although closing educational institutes in summer have some drawbacks, I believe that students should get long break from study in hot weather. This essay with discuss both divergent arguments for shorter and longer holidays before reaching a reasoned conclusion.

One of the strongest argument in favour of two months break from school is that students can have better health. This is largely because children remain away from mandatory study courses. In particular, kids can focus on their hobbies rather than stressing about the academic syllabus. For exammple, consider a primary school child who is given greater access to school vacations. He is more likely to be enthusistic, which can subsequently improve their emotional state. This illustrated how long holidays can contribute in students healthy development. Therefore, schools should implement policy for two months or more summer holidays.

A further consideration is that summer breaks should be short. The underlying reason is that students may loose their focus from studies. This is precisely relevant when children return to school after a break, they find difficult to recall the previous learnings. Consequently, children score less marks in exams or class test, which can have significant implications at individual level. Taken together, these factors suggest that students should have less school holidays.

In conclusion, although shorter school holidays have valid arguments, I believe that both primary and secondary schools should be closed for two months in summer. This is mainly because of the health benefits to students , which indicate that break from study helps in emotional stability of kids.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones, presenting a clear personal position throughout the essay. In the introduction, the writer outlines the plan to discuss divergent arguments, which is carried out in the body paragraphs. However, some ideas lack full extension and support. For example, the argument regarding students' health in the second paragraph is somewhat general and relies on a simplistic illustration. The conclusion reiterates the stance effectively. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, fitting comfortably into Band 6.0 descriptors due to the somewhat under-developed ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, separating the introduction, two body paragraphs, and the conclusion logically. The progression of ideas is generally easy to follow, using transitional phrases such as 'One of the strongest argument', 'A further consideration', and 'In conclusion'. However, there are some minor mechanical issues with cohesion and referencing. For instance, in the second paragraph, the pronoun switch from 'He' back to 'their' ('which can subsequently improve their emotional state') creates a slight lack of cohesion. Despite these minor flaws, the logical organization is clear enough to merit a Band 6.5 score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'prevalence', 'implications', and 'emotional stability'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors, along with spelling mistakes. Examples include 'argument in favour' (should be plural 'arguments'), 'exammple' (spelling), 'enthusistic' (spelling), 'loose' instead of 'lose', 'previous learnings' (uncountable noun used as plural), and 'score less marks' (collocation usually 'get fewer marks' or 'score lower grades'). These lexical inaccuracies indicate a solid Band 6.0 performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating subordinate clauses effectively (e.g., 'Although closing educational institutes in summer have some drawbacks, I believe that...'). However, there are several grammatical errors that persist throughout the text. These include subject-verb agreement issues ('closing educational institutes... have', 'One of the strongest argument'), article omissions ('This essay with discuss', 'implement policy'), and minor prepositional misuse. While these errors do not impede communication, they demonstrate a lack of consistent control over complex grammatical structures, placing the essay securely in the Band 6.0 category.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.