Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-25

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)

Primary and secondary education institutions give two months or more summer vacations in many countries. From my perspective, long summer holidays are compulsory to protect children from heat waves and provide enough free time to spend with family but there are also some negative sides of long breaks.

On the one hand, summer holidays are the best solution to save students from the hot weather because they have to travel long distance as some schools are far away from their residence. School buildings are also very congested and become suffocated in summer. Besides that, children get leisure time to visit their relatives and friends and spend quality time with favourite people. It also give them play time to unwind and recharge themselves. For example, people usually visit their parents during holidays as they do not have other time because children have busy schedules.

On the other hand, some people argue that summer holidays should be short. One major drawback of long vacations is that children do not focus on studies and forget previous lessons. Secondly, parents have to change their routines as children do not get up early in the morning when schools are closed. The best example of this is that children usually make noise and disturb parents so they cannot maintain personal and professional lives.

In conclusion, although summer holidays are necessary to protect children from blistering weather and give them time to spend with loved ones, it has many negative impacts on children as well as on parents. Therefore, primary and secondary schools should held summer camps to avoid disadvantages of long breaks.

AI examiner evaluation

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 in favour of shorter ones. A clear position is maintained throughout the essay. The student presents relevant ideas, such as protecting children from extreme weather, providing family time, and preventing learning loss, which are supported with examples like visiting relatives and changing daily routines. However, some ideas remain slightly under-developed or rely on generalisations, such as the claim that schools become suffocated in summer or that children always disturb working parents. Overall, all parts of the task are addressed adequately, placing this response securely in the Band 6 territory.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear chronological structure. Paragraphing is used appropriately, dividing the introduction, body paragraphs addressing each prompt question, and the conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed to signal transitions, such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion'. However, cohesion can occasionally feel mechanical or repetitive, and referencing is sometimes slightly loose, such as the pronoun 'it' in the concluding sentence ('it has many negative impacts') where the antecedent is ambiguous. Despite these minor flaws, the logical progression is clear throughout the text, satisfying the criteria for Band 6.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task. Words and phrases such as 'education institutions', 'leisure time', 'unwind and recharge', and 'blistering weather' show an attempt to use less common lexical items. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'compulsory' instead of 'necessary' or 'beneficial', 'travel long distance' (missing plural or article), and 'held summer camps' instead of 'hold summer camps'. Spelling is generally accurate, and vocabulary errors do not impede communication, making this a solid Band 6 performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating subordinating clauses with conjunctions like 'because', 'although', and 'as'. There are several grammatical errors present throughout the response, such as 'Primary and secondary education institutions give two months or more summer vacations' (preposition misuse), 'It also give them play time' (subject-verb agreement error), and 'schools should held' (incorrect verb form). Despite these recurring mistakes in grammar and punctuation, the meaning remains clear, and the errors only occasionally cause difficulty, corresponding well to the Band 6 descriptor.

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

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