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)

long holidays - out door activities, visiting relatives, going to another country for visit, taking short term courses

Shorter holidays - stressful of studies, few parents need free time, kids make house mess during holidays.

In numerous nations, first and second classess schools closed for two months or more than that during summer vacation. The importance of long holidays, students can visit to other countries and enroll in different activities. Whereas, few people like small vacation because kids make a mess at home and, some parents need quiet environment.

Long Vacations are essential because students can visit to other countries and enroll in different activities. Change of environment make kids more refreshed in their lifestyle. During school closures, the learners like to visit their relatives, gather together and enjoy the time. In addition, Many students enroll in short courses, outdoor physical activities like, soccer, hockey and cricket etc. Attending computer courses to gain additional knowledge, while physcial activities gives strength, stamina and, keeps active. For instance, during school vacation in India, many students take computer classes and participate in extracurricular activities.

On the Other hand, some people or parents want vacation to be small because of kids make a mess at home and need a quiet environment. Most of the kids wont go to other places and spend complete vacation at home. Furhtermore, parents working from home, required silent atmosphere in order to do work. They might have to attend meeting or talking with clients. For example, during covid period, majority of the Information Technology employees working from home and kids at home as the schools were also closed. The parents were suffered from hard time while working as well as handling the childrens.

In conclusion, a multitude of states primary and secondary schools learners were on vacations for two months or more in the summer period. The vital part is, students can go to their friends, family and different places to explore. However, some individuals prefer to have small holidays because children are indiscipiline and noise pollution at home.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones. The writer includes relevant points, such as travelling, extracurricular activities, and skills development for the first part, and messy homes and remote working challenges for the second. However, some ideas are under-developed and lack extension. For instance, the mention that 'kids make a mess at home' is repeated multiple times without much expansion. The position is generally clear throughout, though the conclusion introduces some slightly repetitive phrasing. Overall, the response meets the core requirements of Task Achievement at a Band 6 level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is divided into clear paragraphs with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing each prompt question, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'In addition', 'On the Other hand', and 'In conclusion', although some transitions feel mechanical or slightly awkward. Logical progression is generally maintained, but referencing is sometimes unclear, as seen in sentences like 'Most of the kids wont go to other places and spend complete vacation at home.' Paragraphing is used sufficiently, but internal cohesion within paragraphs occasionally falters due to abrupt shifts in ideas. This performance aligns with Band 6 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'extracurricular activities', 'stamina', and 'Information Technology employees'. However, there are noticeable word-choice errors, odd collocations, and spelling/form mistakes throughout the essay, such as 'first and second classess', 'physcial', 'wont', 'Furhtermore', and 'indiscipiline'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.0, as the inaccuracies are frequent and cause some difficulty for the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses such as 'while working as well as handling the childrens.' However, there is a high frequency of grammatical errors, including missing articles, incorrect pluralisation ('the childrens', 'classess'), subject-verb agreement issues ('Change of environment make', 'parents working from home, required'), and awkward phrasing. These errors are recurrent and occasionally strain the reader, though meaning can usually be deciphered. This performance sits firmly at Band 5.0.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.