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)

There is a considerable debate about whether school holidays should have larger or shorter duration. This essay will discuss both perspectives.

On the one hand, some people argue that the school holidays should be long. Supporter of this view maintain that it provides a much needed break from the studies for students. Moreover, during this break students can go for a family holiday to visit new places and gain new experiences. Furthermore, these holidays also provide them opportunity to learn a new practical skill that will help them a lot in studies as well as in practical life.

On the other hand, critics of this view contend that long school holidays become problematic for parents. They often believe that school holidays should be shorter as children waste their precious time playing video games and other useless activities. They often ask their parents to visit any new place or plan to go on vacations in any new place but it becomes difficult for middle class families due to limited financial savings. Therefore, they often argue that they should not feel left out when other students tell them stories how they went on vacations. Another reason to support this point of view is that when school going children had a long break from school activities, they often lose their interest in studies.

While both views have their own advantages and disadvantages, I firmly believe that continuous studying is not the solution to the above problems. Although these breaks can be hectic for children, they often get more time to spend with their family and children.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

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 stated in the conclusion. However, some ideas are a bit repetitive or lack full development, particularly in the discussion on financial savings and children feeling left out, which leans into over-generalisation. For instance, the point regarding children wasting time on video games is stated rather than fully extended. These characteristics align best with a Band 6.0, as all parts of the task are addressed with relevant, though slightly under-developed, ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay is coherent overall with a recognisable structure, including a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing each prompt question, and a concluding stance. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different arguments. However, cohesion at the sentence level is sometimes mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent reliance on transitional phrases like "On the one hand," "On the other hand," and "Furthermore." Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as the pronoun shift in the final paragraph where "family and children" is used when discussing parents and children. These features reflect Band 6.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common phrases such as "practical skill," "financial savings," and "continuous studying." However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as "larger or shorter duration" instead of "longer or shorter duration," "Supporter of this view" (singular instead of plural), and "waste their precious time playing video games and other useless activities." These inaccuracies do not impede communication, but they restrict the score to Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses. There are, however, several grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., "Supporter of this view maintain," "school going children had a long break"), missing articles, and awkward phrasing in the conclusion ("more time to spend with their family and children"). Despite these errors, the meaning is generally clear and communication is rarely impeded, supporting a Band 6.0 evaluation.

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