Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-27

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)

In several countries, more than two months of holiday are given during summer in primary and secondary schools. While some argue against it, others believe longer holidays has its own benefit.

Longer school vacation is preferred in some countries especially on the eastern side of the world. Long holidays has benefits of its own for instance students can go on a long family trip and meet with their relatives which boosts their social skills also helps them reconnect with their loved ones. In addition, school tend to give practical homework during these vacations and these homeworks are pretty engaging and fun. Threrefore, it keeps them motivated in their studies as well as boost their practical knowledge. Furthermore, some countries exprience longer summer or winter than others so during this time they are given break to enjoy the nice weather.

Shorter holidays are favored in countries where the length of day and night are balanced all year round. Academic life gets tedious for students after some months so in that case shorter holidays play a cruicial role to keep the students engaged. In addition, short vacation keeps the student engaged in academic studies as children specially tend to get derailed from studies if they are away from study for a long time. Moreover, students can visit their grandparents or go on short trips frequently which essentially keep them motivated in studies.

In conclusion, both long vacation and short vacation have advantages and disadvantges of its own. However, the geographic location and the environment play an important role when choosing the duration of holidays. Therefore, the school authorites should choose vacation suitable to their students need.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing the value of long school holidays as well as the arguments in favour of shorter ones. In the body paragraphs, the student provides clear ideas, such as family trips and practical homework for long holidays, and maintaining academic engagement for shorter holidays. However, some arguments lack deep extension and specific examples from personal knowledge or experience, tending to generalize slightly without strong elaboration. The position is stated from the beginning and maintained throughout the essay. This performance aligns well with the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0; while all parts of the prompt are addressed, the development of ideas would benefit from richer supporting details and more fully explained examples to achieve a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into four paragraphs with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs exploring opposing viewpoints, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'In addition', 'Furthermore', 'Therefore', and 'In conclusion' are used to signal the progression of ideas, although some transitions feel a bit mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct themes. However, referencing is occasionally imprecise, and logical links between sentences could be smoother to ensure a more seamless flow. Overall, the essay presents a coherent structure that allows the reader to follow the argument without difficulty, fitting the Band 6.5 to 7.0 range.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using topic-specific terms like 'primary and secondary schools', 'geographic location', and 'academic life'. There are attempts to use less common items such as 'tedious', 'crucial', and 'derailed'. However, there are notable vocabulary and spelling errors, such as 'exprience' instead of 'experience', 'homeworks' (an uncountable noun used as a plural), and 'authorites'. These lexical errors and occasional awkward word choices indicate a solid Band 6 level where vocabulary is adequate for communication despite recurring inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional or multi-clause sentences such as 'While some argue against it, others believe longer holidays has its own benefit.' There are several grammatical errors present throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('longer holidays has', 'school tend', 'holiday have advantages and disadvantges of its own') and missing articles. Despite these errors, the meaning remains clear and communication is not impeded. The structural variety combined with frequent minor errors places this response firmly in the Band 6 category.

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