Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Many people argue that school holidays should be short so that the childrens do not lose their focus in studies while some say that long holidays are better as they bring families together and childrens can make alot of good memories.

The schools who provide students with two month or more holidays in summer experience lack of interest in studying from childrens. They have to revise the previous topics for a few days in order for them to get back on track. In contrast, due to long holidays childrens get time to visit their reletives and cousions that live far away this not only keeps them emotionally connected it strengthens their relationship. Furthermore, they get the opportunity to make new friends as well. They can also develop new hobbies and work on skills they have passion for; similarly, they can explore diffrent places experience new culture and traditions.

Meanwhile, many people prefer short holidays such as parents working in corporate offices they do not get enough leaves. The responsibility of taking care of childrens gets hard for them. The young individuals when on short leave do not have to undergo previous topics that were already discussed. Short holidays also do not disrupt the decipline they get from school such as waking up early and having a time table for each period.

In conclusion, both are necessary but long holidays, I would say are essential for families to spend time together with their children and have them explore the world on their own and make friends along the way.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt by discussing the value of long school holidays, such as family bonding and personal development, and the arguments in favour of shorter holidays, such as academic continuity and working parents' convenience. However, the ideas lack full extension and deeper support, often moving quickly from one point to another without concrete examples. The writer's position is clear by the conclusion, but the development remains somewhat superficial across the body paragraphs. This places the response comfortably at Band 6.0, as all parts of the task are addressed with relevant, albeit slightly under-developed, ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay has a clear overall progression, dividing the ideas into logical paragraphs for introduction, benefits of long holidays, arguments for short holidays, and conclusion. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or overused, such as 'Furthermore', 'similarly', and 'Meanwhile'. Paragraphing is generally appropriate, but the second body paragraph attempts to cover too many disparate points—family visits, new friends, hobbies, and travel—within a single run of sentences, which affects logical flow. Referencing is occasionally slightly loose, leading to a Band 6.0 level of coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts at less common items such as 'disrupt', 'emotionally connected', and 'corporate offices'. However, there are notable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'childrens' (used multiple times instead of children), 'reletives' (relatives), 'cousions' (cousins), 'diffrent' (different), and 'decipline' (discipline). These errors reflect a Band 5.0 to 6.0 range, but because the meaning is generally clear and communication is not severely impeded, the response secures a Band 6.0 for lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capability to construct multi-clause sentences. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues, such as run-on sentences ('In contrast, due to long holidays childrens get time to visit their reletives and cousions that live far away this not only keeps them emotionally connected it strengthens their relationship.') and missing articles or prepositions. Subject-verb agreement slips also occur. These errors cause some irritation for the reader, fitting the Band 5.0 descriptor well.

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