Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-21
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)
The debate on the prolonged vacations in the primary and secondary schools in many countries is common. From my perspective, it is of great importance for both the teachers and the students to relax their bodies and minds. This essay will show the value of long holidays and the arguments of some people on long vacations.
On the one hand, long holidays is beneficial for the bodies and minds of students and teachers from their daily busy school schedules. Moreover, it will protect the people from excessive heat in summer. This will also help the students to involve themselves in the other curricular activities. Furthermore, it will assist the students to revise their tough subjects. For instance, one of my classmates was very weak in chemistry subject. Due to the 2 months long holidays he will able to overcome his weakness and do better performance in this subject.
On the other hand, a significant number of people argue that long holidays can provide some issues also. Prolonged holidays can divert the attention of students from their studies. They will focus mainly on sports, games. Secondary school students will waste their crucial time on useless activities rather then utilizing it in studies. Moreover, the primary school students will not tightly grasp the basics of learning. For instance, one of my friends was in secondary school. Due to, long holidays he neglected his focus on studies and got engaged in other activities that affected his studies.
In conclusion, long holidays can have numerous benefits such as, protection from sunlight. Even though, it has some demerits still if we utilize the time carefully and by being responsible then it will be better for students' studies.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones, as requested in the prompt. A clear position is established in the introduction and maintained throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas remains somewhat superficial. For example, while the student mentions that holidays protect people from excessive heat and allow time for extracurricular activities or revising tough subjects, these points are stated rather than fully extended. The supporting examples, such as referencing a classmate weak in chemistry, are a bit anecdotal and brief. To reach a higher band, the ideas would need more elaboration and deeper analysis. Overall, the response meets the core requirements of the task adequately, matching the band 6 descriptors well.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, dedicating distinct paragraphs to the introduction, the benefits of long holidays, the arguments for shorter holidays, and the conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed to structure the response, such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', 'Moreover', and 'In conclusion'. However, some of these transitions and referencing links feel mechanical or slightly repetitive. For instance, 'Furthermore', 'Moreover', and 'For instance' are used in close succession, and sentences like 'Due to, long holidays he neglected...' show minor punctuation and referencing awkwardness. Paragraph progression is logical, moving clearly from one perspective to the counter-perspective, though the overall flow could be smoother and more sophisticated to achieve a higher score.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully communicating ideas about education, schedules, and student performance. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'prolonged vacations', 'extracurricular activities', 'excessive heat', and 'demerits'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text. For example, the student writes 'long holidays is beneficial' instead of 'are beneficial', refers to 'chemistry subject' rather than just 'chemistry', and uses 'do better performance' instead of 'perform better'. Additionally, phrases like 'tightly grasp the basics' are slightly unnatural. Spelling is generally accurate, but these lexical slips and awkward collocations place the response firmly in the band 6 category.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over sentence structures with clauses introduced by 'such as', 'Even though', and 'Due to'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('long holidays is beneficial'), unnecessary commas separating prepositional phrases ('Due to, long holidays he...'), and tense or modal verb errors ('he will able to overcome'). Despite these errors, they rarely impede overall communication, and the meaning of the sentences remains clear to the reader. This balance of mixed structures and frequent minor errors aligns closely with the official descriptors for band 6.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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