Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-30

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)

In several countries, Primary and secondary schools close for more than two months in the summer holidays. This essay will discuss benefits of long holidays along with arguments that are given in the support of shorter school holidays.

In hot regions, such as Middle east, Africa and South Asia, summers can be very long and extreme. Temperature can go upto 60 degree celcius. For example, in Pakistan, summer season lasts for 7-8 months and temperature can touch 50-55 degrees mark. The same goes for the above mentioned regions with slight variations. Children cannot tolerate the extremes of temperature like the adults can. Children health can be affected by this heat. So, considering the health safety of the students, School authorities usually provide summer holidays from june to august because these are the hottest months. For example, In my school, children used to get faint in the assembly area and class due to extreme heat and dehydration. so it is better for children to stay home during these months and avoid outside activities such as sports and school.

On the other hand, some people think that long holidays affect the academic progress of children and make them lazy. It has been seen that some students do not rejoin the school after summer holidays and start working with their parents. studies have shown that long vacations do affect education of children to some extent. In the light of these arguments, People think shorter holidays ae the solution. They say with the short vacations, children usually stay in touch with the studies. They do not forget about the school. There learning ability is not affected and they do not trouble their parents to go back to the school after short holidays.

In conclusion, I think children health safety should be the priority. There should be long school holidays in those countries with scorching summers while shorter school vacations in those with mild temperatures.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt directly, discussing the value of long school holidays (such as health and safety during extreme heat) and the arguments in favour of shorter ones (such as preventing academic regression and child labor issues). A clear position is maintained throughout the essay. The ideas are generally relevant and supported with personal examples, such as students fainting in the assembly area due to extreme heat. However, some arguments lack deeper expansion and rely on generalization, placing this performance comfortably at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay is arranged coherently with a logical progression from introduction to body paragraphs and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different points, with each body paragraph focusing on a distinct theme. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'On the other hand', 'For example', and 'In conclusion', although some transitions feel a bit mechanical. Referencing is mostly clear, though occasional capitalization and punctuation slips (e.g., 'Middle east', 'so it is better') slightly disrupt the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'academic progress', 'dehydration', and 'scorching summers'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but some awkward word choices and collocations occur, such as 'Children health can be affected' instead of 'Children's health' and 'They do not trouble their parents to go back to the school'. Spelling is generally accurate, though minor capitalization errors appear throughout the text. The lexical control is sufficient for a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over sentence structures. Examples of complex structures include conditional and relative clauses ('There should be long school holidays in those countries with scorching summers while shorter...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as missing possessive apostrophes ('Children health', 'There learning ability'), incorrect capitalization ('Middle east', 'School authorities'), and minor punctuation issues. These errors do not impede communication, matching the Band 6 descriptor.

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