Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-22
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 5.0)
In many countries school have long summer holidaysor even longer. While these extended breaks provide beneffits for students and families these are also strong arguments in favour of reducing their length. This essay will disucss both perspectives. One the one hand long school holiday ofter valuable opportunities for rest personal development .After months of intensive study students need time to relax and recover from academic pressure. Extended holiday can also allow children to pursue hobbies participate in sports travel with their families or develop practical life skills that may not be taught in the classrom.For example many students attend summer camps learn musical intsteuments oe take part in volunteen activities during the holiday period. Futhermore long vacations enable families to spend quality time together which can strengthen family relationships and contribute to children emotional well being . one the other hand there are several reasons why shorter school holiday many be preferable one concern is that students ofter forget some of what they have learned during lengthy breaks a phenomenon commonly known as learning loss As a result teachers may need to spend valuable classrome time reviewing previous material when the new acadmic year begins . In addition long holidays can creats personal enjoys holidays every years. all school children every week holidays enjoy all familys members .some children very holidays game and studys enjoy. all students summer holiday enjoy and happy . all meimary and secondary sohool close for two months or enjoy summer holidays all children people very happy and spent these time grandfather home. In many countries
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
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. The candidate presents a clear position and outlines both perspectives as requested in the introduction. Ideas regarding rest, personal development, and learning loss are introduced and supported with examples such as summer camps, travel, and the phenomenon of learning loss. However, as the essay progresses into the latter paragraphs, the writing deteriorates into repetitive and disjointed phrases like 'all school children every week holidays enjoy all familys members,' leading to under-developed main points in the second half of the body. Despite these structural flaws toward the end, the task is addressed well enough to achieve a Band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay begins with a clear introduction and paragraphing structure, using transitional markers such as 'One the one hand' and 'On the other hand'. However, the logical progression breaks down severely in the final paragraph, where sentences become a string of disconnected and repetitive clauses lacking logical links or clear cohesion. Referencing and paragraphing fail in this concluding section, making the flow difficult to follow. Cohesive devices are either missing or applied mechanically, and paragraph boundaries become blurred. This places the performance firmly in the Band 5 range for Coherence and Cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates a limited range of vocabulary, relying heavily on basic, repetitive words such as 'holiday', 'students', 'enjoy', and 'children'. There are notable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'beneffits', 'disucss', 'ofer', 'classrom', 'intsteuments', 'volunteen', 'futhermore', 'acadmic', 'creats', and 'meimary'. While there are attempts at less common lexical items such as 'personal development', 'intensive study', and 'learning loss', the high frequency of spelling mistakes and basic errors impedes communication in several places, resulting in a Band 5.0 score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The candidate attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'While these extended breaks provide beneffits for students and families these are also strong arguments...' and 'Extended holiday can also allow children to pursue hobbies...'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak. Punctuation is frequently omitted or misused, and there are numerous run-on sentences and missing commas. Errors are particularly dense in the final paragraph, where subject-verb agreement and sentence structure collapse entirely (e.g., 'all school children every week holidays enjoy all familys members'). These frequent errors cause difficulty for the reader and reflect a Band 5.0 level of grammatical control.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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