Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-28

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)

it is known that primary as well as secondary educational institutes remain close for two or more than two months in many nations during the summar holidays and it is same in all countries to close but time period differ nationwise. It has several reasons and values to scholars and mentors both as well as few masses consider that these time frame should be less. I am going to discuss about the factors with examples in the forthcoming paragraphs.

Commencing with the value of long school vacations, the first and foremost importance is that learners can get a break from academic. To explicate this, academic burden do not let learners to spend quality time with family and friends due to completion of their assignments and projects as well as they remain busy with their regular workload, so long school holidays would be a chance to spend leisure time and relish together regardless of their studies pressure. Another underlying important factor is that they can give time to their hobbies. To illustrate this, students do not get spare time in the educational institutions as well as at their homes to enjoy whatever they like such as drawing, swimming, music, playing outdoor games. Thus, the holidays are the time to break from studies and pursue their activities interestingly.

Moving towards the arguments of shorter school vacations, the prominent one is that a handful of school goers take much time to learn new skill. In other words, not all humanbeings have same qualities or mentality to learn the skills they are interested, they may take more time or slow learner so the certifications and proper knowledge require proper time. For instance, basics of computer system also need to take at least more than three months however, many institutions complete it within two months which is incomplete so the shorter holidays will not be beneficial.

To explicate this, although it is in trend and is continue since many decades ago to provide summer holidays yet many take its proper advantages as per their choice to do whatever they like.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones. A clear position is established in the introduction and maintained throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas in the third body paragraph is slightly confusing and less coherent regarding the argument for shorter holidays, as the student shifts to discussing how learners take time to acquire skills. Nevertheless, the main requirements of the task are met, and the ideas are generally relevant, supporting a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay is divided into an introduction, two body paragraphs discussing the prompt's main questions, and a concluding remark, showing an overall logical arrangement. Cohesive devices such as 'Commencing with', 'To explicate this', and 'Moving towards' are used to structure the text, though some transitions feel a bit mechanical or repetitive. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. Referencing and linking are generally clear, though occasional awkward phrasing affects the flow. This fits the Band 6.0 descriptor for coherent arrangement with some faulty or mechanical cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common phrases such as 'educational institutes', 'forthcoming paragraphs', and 'underlying important factor'. However, there are notable word-choice errors, incorrect collocations, and spelling mistakes (e.g., 'summar' instead of 'summer', 'humanbeings', 'time frame should be less'). Repetition of phrases like 'To explicate this' is also evident. While communication is not severely impeded, the vocabulary limitations and errors place this performance firmly at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capability to construct longer sentences with clauses (e.g., 'To explicate this, academic burden do not let learners...'). However, grammatical errors are frequent throughout the response, including subject-verb agreement issues ('academic burden do not let', 'certifications and proper knowledge require'), missing articles, and awkward phrasing. Punctuation is also problematic, with run-on sentences joined by commas instead of proper conjunctions or full stops. These recurring errors align with the Band 5.0 descriptors.

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