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)

It is often argue that, in many countries, primary and secondary schools close for two or more months during summer holidays, while others believe that, shorter holidays are better for students. Though both values have merits and demerits, i believe shorter holidays are more advantageous.

On one hand, students can use this long break efficiently by engaging different kinds of activities. In this leave, they can develop some valuable skills, learn new hobbies, do internships and spend their free time with family. So that, they can improve their personal qualities as well as their social qualities. For example, in summer vacations, children can engage in different social activities so that they are socially acceptable. Therefore, people believe that, this long holidays ultimately improve the personal growth.

On the other hand, one of the reason for the argument for shorter holidays is students can get forget if they detach from the academic activities for long time. If the children don't practice the curriculum because of the long-term close which can hamper their academic results. If they get short-time break, they can learn some new skills besides getting detached from curriculum. For example, students could keep routines steadier and reduce the learning loss.

In conclusions, both viewpoints has individual benefits. But in my opinion shorter holidays are more beneficial for students for learning new skills and losing academic learning.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones, maintaining a clear position. However, the ideas are somewhat repetitive and lack deep development, relying on generalized points rather than fully realized examples. Furthermore, the length requirement has NOT been met; the response contains only 227 words, falling 23 words short of the 250-word minimum. This under-length impacts task achievement as full development is constrained. Overall, the content is relevant and covers all parts of the task, but the lack of word count and limited elaboration place it firmly in the band 5 range.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is divided into an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion, showing an attempt at logical organisation. Paragraphing is generally appropriate. However, cohesion is often faulty or mechanical, as seen in repetitive or strained transitions like 'So that', 'Therefore, people believe that', and 'In conclusions'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and progression within paragraphs can feel circular rather than linear. While the overall arrangement is coherent enough to follow, the frequent mechanical use of cohesive devices and minor organisational flaws prevent the response from achieving a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student displays an adequate vocabulary range to communicate basic points, attempting some less common phrases such as 'academic activities', 'curriculum', and 'socially acceptable'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors throughout the text, including 'It is often argue' instead of argued, 'In this leave' instead of leave, 'get forget' instead of forget, and 'losing academic learning' instead of preventing learning loss. Spelling and lexical inaccuracies cause some minor confusion, though communication is generally maintained. The vocabulary is minimally adequate for the task, fitting the descriptors for a band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, with conditional structures attempted (e.g., 'If the children don't practice... which can hamper'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('both viewpoints has', 'one of the reason'), incorrect verb forms ('It is often argue'), and incomplete clause structures. Punctuation errors are also present, such as missing commas after introductory phrases. These errors require some effort to decode and occur regularly, though they rarely obscure the overall meaning completely. This level of accuracy and range aligns with a band 5.

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