Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-19

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 6.5)

In many countries, schools give students a summer holiday holiday lasting two months or more. While long holidays can provide several crucial benefits for children, shorter school breaks also have some significant advantages. This essay will dicuss both sides of this issue.

In the begining, there are several benefits of having long school holidays. First, they give students enough time to rest after a long and demanding academic year. Continuous studying can make children tired and less motivated, so a long break allows them to relax and return to school with greater energy. Secondly, students can use this period to develop skills and spend quality time with their families. For example, children may travel with their parents, learn to swim, play sports or take part in creative activities that are difficult to do during school year. Therefore, long holidays can contribute to children's physical and emotional well-being.

On the other hand, shorter school holidays can also be benifical. The main advantage is that students are less likely to forget what they have learned during the academic year. After being away from school for two or three months, some children may need considerable time to remember basic concepts particularly in subjects such as mathematics and languages. Shorter breaks can help maintain a regular learning routine and make the transition back to school easier. In addition, shorter holidays can be more convenient for working parents because they may find it difficult to arrange childcare for several months. For instance, parents who work full-time may have to pay for childcare or asl relatives to look after their children during a long summer break.

In conclusion, long shool holidays allow students to rest, spend their time with families and participate in activities outside school. However, shorter holidays can help children maintain their academic knowledge and reduce childcare difficulties for working parents. Both types of holidays have practical benefits depending on students and families needs.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response effectively addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones. The writer establishes a clear position in the introduction and maintains it throughout the essay. Ideas are well-developed and supported with relevant explanations and examples, such as the benefits of relaxation and physical well-being, as well as the disadvantages regarding learning retention and childcare logistics. The response covers all aspects of the task well, aligning closely with the band descriptors for a strong performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay displays clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Information and ideas are presented coherently with a logical flow from the introduction, through body paragraphs discussing each side of the argument, to a concise conclusion. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, with each paragraph having a clear central topic. Cohesive devices are used effectively to link ideas, such as "First", "Secondly", "On the other hand", and "In addition", though occasional minor mechanical referencing could be slightly more natural to reach the highest bands.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate and generally appropriate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as "demanding academic year", "emotional well-being", "learning routine", and " childcare logistics". There are occasional spelling and word-choice errors, such as repeating "holiday holiday" in the opening sentence, writing "dicuss" instead of "discuss", "begining" instead of "beginning", and "benifical" instead of "beneficial". However, these lexical errors are minor, do not impede communication, and the writer successfully attempts less common vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates a good mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures appropriately. Examples such as "While long holidays can provide several crucial benefits for children..." and "After being away from school for two or three months, some children may need considerable time..." show a competent command of syntax. There are some minor grammatical slips and typos, such as "during school year" (missing an article) and "asl relatives" instead of "ask relatives", but the majority of sentences are error-free and punctuation is generally well controlled.

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