Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

It is often argued that Schools should have long summer holidays. While these breaks provide Student with valuable time to rest and pursue other activities, others believe that shorter school holidays can offer academic and practical benefits. This essay will discuss the value of long school holiday and the argument in favour of shorter breaks.

On the one hand, long schools holidays can be highly beneficial for students. The main reason is that they provide young people with sufficient time to relax after a demanding academic year. This allow them to spend time with their families, travel, participate in sports and develop personal interests. For example, Student may use their summer break to visit relatives or learn anew skills. As a result, they can return to school feeling refreshed and motivated.

On the other hand, there are several arguments in favour of shorter school holiday. One important reason is that students can maintain a more consistent academic routine. If children spend several months away from their studies, they my forgot some of the information they previously learned. For instance, student who have a shorter break may spend less time reviewing old material when they return to school. Therefore, Shorter holidays could help maintain continuity in education.

In conclusion, although long holiday gives students valuable opportunities to rest, travel and spent time with their families, shorter breaks can help them maintain academic routine. Both approaches therefore have their own advantages, depending on the needs of students and families.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

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, maintaining a clear position throughout. Ideas are relevant and supported with examples, such as spending time with family or maintaining an academic routine. However, the response falls slightly short of the 250-word minimum, containing 247 words. This under-length issue, combined with some slight under-development of supporting arguments, prevents the response from reaching Band 7.0. Therefore, a band score of 6.0 is appropriate as the prompt is adequately addressed, but lacks full extension due to the word count limitation.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response features a clear overall structure with a recognizable introduction, two body paragraphs exploring each side of the prompt, and a concise conclusion. Information and ideas are logically sequenced with clear transitional markers such as 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. However, referencing and cohesive devices occasionally feel a bit mechanical or repetitive. For example, the referencing in 'student who have a shorter break' lacks plural consistency. Overall, logical organization and progression are well maintained, earning a solid Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'consistent academic routine', 'demanding academic year', and 'continuity in education'. However, there are noticeable word form and spelling errors throughout the text, including 'Student' instead of 'students', 'anew skills' instead of 'new skills', 'my forgot' instead of 'might forget', and 'long holiday' instead of 'long holidays'. These lexical inaccuracies prevent the score from rising higher, though communication is never impeded. Thus, a band score of 6.0 is awarded.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating conditional and relative clauses such as 'If children spend several months away from their studies, they may forget...' and 'students who have a shorter break...'. There are several grammatical errors present, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('This allow them' instead of 'This allows them' and 'Schools should have' with unwarranted capitalization) and spelling-induced verb errors like 'my forgot'. Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear and complex structures are attempted with moderate success, reflecting the descriptors for Band 6.0.

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