Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-26

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 6.0)

Academic calendars are structured to ensure holistic well-being and development of young learners. Around the world, primary and secodary schools are shut for extended periods during summers in many nations. However, if such prolonged breaks are beneficial to the student or they hinder their learning continuity, remains a subject of several recent debates.

In a world of cutting edge competition, education plays a vital role in shaping the future of an individual, due to which students frequently face academic burdens, leading to potential burnouts. To escape this malicious cycle, schools provide summer holidays, exceeding two months, for the individual to rest and rejuvenate, by travelling around the world or enrolling themselves into extracurricular activities such as, dancing, painting, sports, and so on. Moreover, school holidays proffer one with the opportunity to learn new skills, adding on to their competencies.

However, longer breaks from eduction can affect the student's motivation towards attending regular classes, if they have not been productive during the holidays. Research from the past suggest that laziness takes over children in holidays, resulting into lethargic behaviour later, and therefore resistant to return to school. On top of that, one of the most gruesome consequence of extended breaks is that some students may indulge in criminal behaviours, if not monitored by parents properly. Hence, teh duaration of summer vacations should be neither short nor long, but a modest period.

To conclude, just like every coin has two sides, even longer breaks have their own benefits and demerits, and one must analyse them properly to ensure beter future.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones. The introduction sets a clear context, and the body paragraphs logically explore both sides of the debate. For instance, the second paragraph outlines benefits such as rest, rejuvenation, and participating in extracurricular activities like dancing, painting, and sports. The third paragraph addresses the counterarguments, noting how extended breaks can lead to a lack of motivation, lethargic behaviour, and even potential behavioural issues if unsupervised. The position is maintained throughout the essay. However, some ideas could have been slightly more extended and supported with concrete real-world examples rather than general assertions to reach a higher band level. Overall, the task response is well-covered and meets the core requirements effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear overall progression and logical organisation. Information and ideas are arranged coherently, moving smoothly from the introduction to the benefits, the drawbacks, and finally the conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately, with each paragraph focusing on a distinct central theme. Cohesive devices are employed to connect ideas, such as 'Moreover', 'However', and 'To conclude'. However, referencing and cohesion can occasionally feel somewhat mechanical, and there are minor issues with transitional flow. For example, the transition into the final paragraph is slightly abrupt. Nevertheless, the logical structure remains clear throughout, making the essay easy to follow for the reader, which aligns comfortably with the Band 7 descriptor.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates an adequate to sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'holistic well-being', 'rejuvenate', 'competencies', and 'gruesome consequence'. While there is an attempt to use sophisticated terminology, there are noticeable spelling errors ('secodary', 'teh', 'duaration', 'beter', 'eduction') and occasional awkward word choices or collocations, such as 'malicious cycle' instead of 'vicious cycle'. Despite these flaws, the vocabulary used is sufficient to convey the intended meaning clearly, and communication is never impeded. The range allows the writer to discuss the topic with some precision, placing this performance securely in the Band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, demonstrating an ability to construct multi-clause sentences, such as 'In a world of cutting edge competition, education plays a vital role...'. There is good control over punctuation for the most part. However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings present, such as 'whether such prolonged breaks are beneficial to the student or they hinder... remains a subject' (subject-verb agreement and clause structure issues) and 'resulting into lethargic behaviour' (preposition error instead of 'resulting in'). Additionally, phrases like 'Research from the past suggest' contain agreement errors. While these errors occur fairly frequently, they rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the argument without severe difficulty.

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