Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

It is often argued by some people that in certain countries, primary and secondary educational institue remain close during summer vacations. Meanwhile, others argue that fewer school holidays have more benefits. However, I believe that long time vacations are better because the improve the mental well-being.

On the one hand, supporters of the idea long time holidays believe that rest and relaxtion is necessary for the student. As student get relax from the academic pressure and thus return to the school with fresh mind. Take the example of Japan, a survey conducted in 2024, which showed that 30% of studentswhich have two month summer holidays have more relaxed and sharp mind than other students.

While on the other hand, the advocates of the view that shorter school holidays believe that it involves continuous learning. As if the less number of vacation students go to school more days thus they learn more than others. For example, in Japan only one week vacation for the students because they want students should continuous touch in the study.

However, in my opinion long term vacation is necessary for their menral well- beingness. As students get more time to feel free from the academic pressure and this they prefrom better when they return back to their studies.

To sum up, even though short time holidays also have some advantage, but I believe that long time vacation is necessary for the refreshment of the students.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response attempts to address both parts of the prompt, discussing the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones, along with a clear position in the introduction and conclusion. However, there are significant limitations. Crucially, the length check reports that the response contains only 239 words, which fails to meet the minimum requirement of 250 words, leading to a penalty. Furthermore, ideas are somewhat repetitive and under-developed, relying on simplistic examples and sweeping generalisations, such as citing a specific survey statistic about Japanese students without deep elaboration. While the main bullet points of the task are touched upon, the lack of word count and limited idea expansion place this at Band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay displays some basic organization with paragraphing used to separate the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. However, progression is somewhat impaired by repetitive phrasing and awkward transitions. Cohesive devices are occasionally mechanical or misused, such as 'While on the other hand' and 'this they prefrom better'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the overall flow is hindered by choppy sentences and repetitive arguments about mental well-being and academic pressure. Paragraphing is present, but the internal logical links between sentences lack smoothness. This performance corresponds well to Band 5.0 descriptors for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary for the task, with frequent spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'institue' instead of 'institute', 'relaxtion', 'menral', and 'prefrom'. There are also awkward collocations and grammatical forms such as 'studentswhich have' and 'continuous touch in the study'. While the vocabulary allows the writer to convey basic ideas about school holidays and stress, the noticeable errors and lack of sophisticated phrasing restrict the score. The lexical control struggles with less common lexical items, fitting the Band 5.0 profile.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but many of the complex attempts contain noticeable errors or faulty grammar, such as 'As student get relax from the academic pressure and thus return to the school with fresh mind' and 'As if the less number of vacation students go to school more days thus they learn more than others.' Frequent errors in articles, prepositions, subject-verb agreement, and word forms cause some difficulty for the reader. Although the meaning can generally be deciphered, the high frequency of grammatical inaccuracies means error-free sentences are in the minority, aligning with Band 5.0.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.