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 the majority of countries, primary and secondary schools close for long summer holidays. Although its advantages and disadvantages are often argued by people. This essay highlights the significance of both aspects before coming to a conclusion.

In many countries, high temperature in June, July, and August is the major reason behind long summer vacation. The temperature increases to 40 or above in many Asian countries. For example, In some cities of Pakistan, the temperature sometime goes up to 50. The children with small age has often been observed to be more affected by heat wave. In order to overcome this issue, a long holiday is provided in the months of hot weather. Moreover, people use these holidays to explore new areas or learn something creative. Many people prefer to travel northern areas, as temperature is comparatively low there. This provides them the opportunity of learning about the culture of that particular city and exploring.

Meanwhile there is a community who prefer shorter holidays over the longer one. The reason could be the extended vacation can make parenting overwhelming in some cases. For instance, if both parent are working, it would be difficult for them to take care of children for an increased period. As a result, they have to leave their children at day care, which can cost them a high amount. Furthermore, shorter holidays are an easy way to balance child's life in between studies and playing. In case of longer holidays, kids might get reluctant in going back to school, but their education cannot come at the risk of their health.

In conclusion, countries where climatic conditions are not suitable for small age children to go out in sun, longer holidays is a good approach.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones. The writer presents clear ideas regarding the benefits of escaping high summer temperatures and the logistical challenges working parents face with extended breaks. However, some ideas lack full development and generalisation checks; for example, the discussion on weather focuses heavily on Pakistan without broader contextualisation, and the second body paragraph could be extended with more detailed examples. Despite these minor limitations in depth, the main requirements of the task are met satisfactorily, corresponding well to the Band 6 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised to separate the two main prompt questions. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'Moreover', 'Furthermore', and 'In conclusion', though some referencing and transitions feel slightly mechanical or abrupt, as seen in the sentence starting with 'Meanwhile there is a community'. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but connections between sentences occasionally feel disjointed. Overall, the organisational structure meets the requirements for a Band 6.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'overcome this issue', 'logistical', and 'day care'. However, there are noticeable vocabulary and collocation errors, such as 'travel northern areas' (missing preposition 'to'), 'small age children' (instead of 'young children'), and 'cost them a high amount' (instead of 'cost a lot of money'). Word formation errors also appear, such as 'temperature sometime goes up'. These errors do not impede communication, placing the response firmly at Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at conditional structures and relative clauses. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues like 'The children with small age has often been observed', missing articles ('in sun'), and awkward phrasing ('longer holidays is a good approach'). While these errors are noticeable and require the reader to occasionally re-read, they rarely completely impede communication. This balance of mixed structures and persistent errors aligns well with the Band 5.0 to 6.0 range, leaning towards a solid 5.5.

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

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