Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Many schools give summer vacation for more than 2 months to the student studying in primary class and secondary class. This essay will discuss the benefits of long holidays and also discuss the merits of shorter school vacation in the upcoming paragraphs.

One of the major benefit is that children can take relief from long going exams and academic pressure. Students are burdened with many subjects and theories, which they have to learn, as a result in order to gain good marks they work really very hard, which might leads to stress and anxiety sometime. Consequently, after putting lots of effort to score well in examination student deserve to feel relax and rest for few days either by staying at their home or on a family trip. Another major benefit is that many students due to academic schedule do not get time to learn different skills. As a result, in long vacation children get enough time to learns some skills including swimming, singing or learn to play musical instruments for example Piano.

On the other hand, many people suggest that students should have shorter holidays and there are multiple reasons for this idea. In the family, where both father and mother do certain jobs and have busy schedule, find it difficult to spare time for their children. These people usually want shorter summer holidays for their children so they can get back to their work. Moreover, sometime vacation become a burden on people with low income. To elaborate, children often demands to go on a long vacation trip or to have expensive toys, which leads to financial burden for parents.

To conclude, while long summer vacation can privilege children with relaxation and relief from academic pressure as well as enhance their skills. However, many people avoid this because they cannot spare much time for their childrens and look after their children, also it might become financial burden in many cases.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

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 student presents a clear position throughout the essay. The ideas are relevant and supported with explanations, such as relieving academic stress and learning new skills like swimming or playing the piano for the first part, and working parents or financial burdens for the second part. However, some supporting ideas remain slightly under-developed and would benefit from deeper extension or more specific real-world examples. Overall, the task is successfully covered, aligning well with the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0, ultimately fitting comfortably at Band 6.0 due to some generalisation in the supporting points.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, and body paragraphs separated logically into the two prompt requirements. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'One of the major benefit', 'Consequently', and 'On the other hand', although some referencing is slightly faulty, for example, plural agreement errors like 'many people... find it' and 'vacation become'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, guiding the reader through the distinct arguments. While referencing and linking can occasionally feel mechanical rather than fully flexible, the logical progression is clear throughout the text, warranting a solid Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'academic pressure', 'anxiety', and 'financial burden'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, form, and collocation throughout the response. Examples include 'One of the major benefit' (should be plural), 'learns some skills' (grammar/form error), 'childrens' (incorrect plural), and 'vacation become' (subject-verb agreement). These errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 6.0, as the vocabulary lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and subordinate structures like 'Students are burdened with many subjects and theories, which they have to learn'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors in tense consistency, subject-verb agreement, and pluralisation. Examples include 'Many schools give summer vacation... to the student' (should be plural), 'which might leads' (incorrect verb form), 'student deserve to feel relax' (should be relaxed), and 'In the family, where both father and mother... find it' (comma splice and agreement issues). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the message, they occur frequently enough to keep the grammar score at Band 5.5.

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