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)
In many countries, school close for two months or more in summer. Long holidays have good benefits, but there are also reasons for having short breaks.
On the first hand, long school holidays are very valuable. After studying hard for months, students need a long break to rest their minds and relax. Students get a necessary mental rest from academic pressure. It also gives families a great time to spend quality time together and do holiday trips or chance to visit relatives. Furthmore, children can use this time to pursue hobbies, learn new hobbies, play outdoor sports or participate in many activities or competation in summer camps. Which helps in their overall personal growth and many students identify their ability in different types of activities like sports, hiking, dance, singing and many more.
On the other hand, there are good arguments for shorter holidays. One big problem is that students often forget their lesson during a long breaks what they can learned during the previous academic year, so teachers waste time reviewing old topics when school starts again so it waste the time of teachers, students and school for repeating the previous task. working parents also struggle to childcare during long summer holidays, which can be expensive and stressfull. To solve this problem more frequent and shorter breaks could keep students engaged in learning while still providing regulaar test.
In conclusion, long holidays provides a great chance for relaxation and family bonding but shorter breaks can help prevent learning loss and reduce childcare problems for working parents.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the value of long school holidays and the arguments for shorter ones. A clear position is maintained throughout the essay. Ideas are extended and supported, such as mentioning mental rest and family bonding for long holidays, and learning loss and childcare issues for shorter breaks. However, some arguments, such as the discussion on hobbies in the second paragraph, contain minor redundancies ('pursue hobbies, learn new hobbies') and remain somewhat general. These points prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. Overall, all parts of the task are addressed adequately, aligning well with the Band 6.5 or solid Band 6 descriptors, earning a 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from introduction to body paragraphs and conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two main ideas. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'On the first hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion', though 'On the first hand' is a non-standard collocation (better phrased as 'On the one hand'). Referencing is generally clear, although a sentence fragment appears in the second paragraph ('Which helps in their overall personal growth...'), which disrupts the flow and cohesion of ideas. Despite these mechanical errors in cohesion, the overall structure remains logical and easy to follow, supporting a Band 6.0 rating.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'mental rest', 'academic pressure', 'personal growth', and 'learning loss'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors throughout the text, including 'school close' (missing plural/article), 'Furthmore' (spelling), 'competation' (spelling), 'stressfull' (spelling), and 'regulaar test' (spelling). Additionally, phrasing like 'struggle to childcare' is awkward. While these errors are frequent, they do not impede communication, as the writer's intent remains clear. This lexical control is characteristic of Band 5.5, rounded to 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar. However, grammatical errors are frequent. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('school close', 'long holidays provides'), fragments ('Which helps in their overall personal growth...'), and tense/structure errors ('students often forget their lesson during a long breaks what they can learned'). Punctuation errors also occur, such as run-on sentences with comma splices ('...starts again so it waste the time...'). Although these errors occasionally cause minor difficulty for the reader, communication is not seriously impeded. This profile fits the Band 5.0 descriptors well.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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