Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-17

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)

There has been a great debate about whether longer school holidays are good for schoolchildren. While longer holidays provide extra time for rest, develop some skills and spend time with their families, others think that shorter vacations will improve academic performance. This essay will discuss both views.

On the one hand, there are several benefits of longer holidays. One of the major advantages is that students have enough time to relax after months of study and giving exams. They may be tired of regular classes, tests and assignments, so that longer holidays will improve their physical and mental well-being. Students can also visit northern areas in these holidays which strengthen their family bonds and allow them to learn different customs and local languages of such areas. Moreover, a number of students also participate in sports activities, learning musical instruments or involving in summer camps as a volunteers. As a response, these activities will build creative skills, and making them physically active.

on the other hand, shorter holidays are essential for academic progress. This is because, learners may forget what they learned during extended holidays. Therefore, teachers are more likely to revise the topics instead of delivering fresh lectures. Consequently, teachers may fail to complete syllabus within a specified time. In addition, working parents may faced difficulties in longer school holidays. They have to manage workload and childcare in such period which paces extra pressure on them.

In conclusion, longer holidays provide extra time to rest, develop valuable skills and explore different areas. However shorter holidays improve academic performance and reduce childcare difficulties for working parents. In my opinion, schools should provide short breaks and regular holidays for better progess of childrens.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones, as evidenced by clear exploration of relaxation, skill development, academic progress, and working parents' challenges. A position is presented in the introduction and reinforced in the conclusion. However, some ideas lack full extension and support; for example, the mention of visiting northern areas or learning local languages is introduced briefly without detailed elaboration. While the task is addressed competently, the depth of development aligns comfortably with a Band 6.5 to 7.0 descriptor. Overall, all prompt requirements are met adequately, and the ideas presented remain relevant and focused throughout the response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a logical overall organisation with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing each viewpoint, and a distinct conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Moreover', 'Consequently', and 'In conclusion' are employed to guide the reader through the text, although some transitions appear slightly mechanical or formulaic. Paragraphing is used appropriately, separating the distinct arguments into logical sections. Referencing is generally clear, though minor lapses in cohesion occur, such as the sudden lowercase start of the second body paragraph ('on the other hand'). Progression is evident throughout, placing the text solidly in the Band 6.5 or 7 range for structural and organizational control.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, demonstrating an attempt to incorporate less common items and thematic phrasing such as 'physical and mental well-being', 'academic progress', and 'childcare difficulties'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text. For instance, the student writes 'giving exams' instead of 'taking exams', 'involving in summer camps as a volunteers' containing grammatical and lexical mismatch, and 'paces extra pressure' instead of 'places extra pressure'. Additionally, pluralisation and word forms show occasional lapses, such as 'progess of childrens'. The lexical range is sufficient for communication, but these recurrent errors prevent the score from reaching higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and varied structures, such as conditional and causative phrasing. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, including subject-verb agreement and tense issues, such as 'learners may forget what they learned', 'working parents may faced difficulties', and 'making them physically active' (which breaks parallelism). Punctuation and capitalization errors also appear, notably the lowercase letter at the beginning of the third paragraph. While these errors rarely impede overall communication and the reader can easily follow the argument, the frequency of non-systematic errors places this performance firmly at Band 6.0.

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