Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-18

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)

Nowadays, longer summer vacations in educational intitutions especially in schools is becoming increasingly prevalent. Some people argued that holidays should be limited since they interrupt child's education, while others believe it plays an indispensable role in individuals life as they allow children to spend more time with their homies. This essay will not only discuss the value of long school holidays but also state the arguments in favour of shorter school vacations.

On the one hand, long summer break allows children to spend more time with their parents and also provides parents an opportunity to plan some trip with their children. Additionally, parents can groom their childs in that time of period. Moreover, it allows youngsters to take a break from their busy routine and work on their personal interests; for example if anyone has hobby like gardening or stamp collecting but due to their educational pressure they were not able to do, so they have enough time now to pursue it.

On the other hand, some individuals who believe that school holidays should be shorter have their own narrative as they think it will disturb the education of youth. Furthermore, they thought that adolescents will more engage in sports rather than study in holidays and when they return to school after vacations they will note remain the same student as they were before. A survey conducted by the World Health Organization in the year 2024 explained itself that 80% of parents who are in favour of shorter holidays are those who becomes frustrated by child's behaviour and thought that they were more in peace when there childrens were in school.

In conclusion, from my perspective closure of primary and secondary schools for two months or more in summer is beneficial for children's both mental and physical fitness. Moreover, it is also necessary for parents to force their kids to learn something new in that free time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones, maintaining a clear position throughout. Ideas are generally well-extended, such as the benefits of spending time with family and pursuing personal hobbies like gardening. However, some arguments lack full academic depth, such as the slightly contrived World Health Organization survey reference in the third paragraph, which feels anecdotal and unsubstantiated. Despite minor weaknesses in idea support, the essay covers the task adequately, matching the expectations of Band 6.5 to 7.0. Given the clear positioning and complete coverage of both prompt questions, a band 6.5 is appropriate, as some points remain slightly under-developed or rely on questionable generalisations.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a clear overall progression and logical organisation. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, the value of long holidays, the counter-arguments for shorter breaks, and the conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed to signal transitions, such as "On the one hand," "On the other hand," and "In conclusion." However, referencing is occasionally imprecise, and some cohesive links are used rather mechanically (e.g., "Furthermore, they thought that adolescents will more engage..."). Paragraph 3 contains run-on sentence structures that slightly disrupt the logical flow of ideas. Overall, the structural framework is coherent, earning a solid Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student attempts a range of vocabulary appropriate for an academic task, including terms like "prevalent," "indispensable," "adolescents," and "pursue." However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations throughout the text. Examples include spelling errors like "intitutions" instead of institutions, grammar-lexis clashes such as "child's" instead of children, and unnatural phrases like "spend more time with their homies" (informal slang), "time of period," and "note remain the same student." These inaccuracies reveal a vocabulary range that is adequate for communication but lacks the precision required for higher bands, placing this response firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement and pluralisation, such as "Some people argued" instead of argue, "child's education" where plural is often meant, "their childrens were," and verb tense shifts like "who becomes frustrated... and thought." Additionally, prepositional and article errors appear throughout the essay (e.g., "in individuals life," "on holidays" instead of during holidays). While these errors rarely completely impede communication, their frequency prevents the essay from reaching a higher grammatical band, justifying a score of 6.0.

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

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