Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-01

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 5.0)

Schools in many countries remain close in summer for two months and more. Summer holidays are necessary for the students to spend time with their parents, friends and other peoples in there circle. But this much long vacations can also divert the interest of the students from the education.

Long school holidays has a great value because in these long vacations students focus on co-curricular activities and they can also travel to the hill station for the refreshment of there mind.

For example: In schools students main focus is only on study if a student has a interest in exploring a new city he cannot do it due to school. But in long vacations he has a lot of time to explore the city.

Every thing has advantages and disadvantages as we are only seeing one side: long vacations has good side but it also have a bad side. After the long vacations students feel difficulty in study because of the gap between study and they will not be able to focus with full attention. Short vacations are also be preference because of the better study of students.

For example: Student has spend its time in exploring a new city and when he come back to school it is difficult for him to focus again on this studies because his mind is stuck in the city that he explored.

Long vacations and short vacation each has its own importance and every one has its on opinion

on this topic. So if I my consider my self I prefer long vacations more. So it is choice of a school what they think is good for their students

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the main parts of the prompt by discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments for shorter breaks, such as spending time on co-curricular activities and the difficulty of refocusing on studies afterwards. However, the ideas remain limited and under-developed, which keeps the response at this level. For instance, the point about travelling to a hill station or exploring a city is repeated in similar terms as an example for both tasks without being fully expanded into distinct arguments. Furthermore, the writer's position towards the end becomes slightly conversational and lacks clear academic development, relying on generalized statements rather than fully extended reasoning.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some basic organization present with distinct paragraph breaks, and the essay attempts to address both sides of the prompt sequentially. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression, and the logical flow between sentences is occasionally hindered by repetitive ideas. Cohesive devices are handled inconsistently; transitional markers are either basic or somewhat inaccurate, as seen in phrases like 'Every thing has advantages and disadvantages as we are only seeing one side'. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as pronoun usage in 'when he come back to school'. Paragraphing is utilized, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs requires stronger linking to guide the reader smoothly through the arguments.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to communicate the basic arguments. The writer attempts some appropriate terms related to education and lifestyle, such as 'co-curricular activities', 'refreshment of there mind', and 'advantages and disadvantages'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors throughout the text, including word form and spelling issues like 'there' instead of 'their', 'peoples' instead of 'people', and 'study' used where 'studies' or 'studying' is more appropriate. These errors and the restricted range of vocabulary mean that precision is lacking, although communication of the main ideas is generally maintained despite the limitations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer utilizes a very limited range of sentence structures, relying primarily on simple sentences and basic compound forms. Attempts at more complex structures are frequently faulty, leading to noticeable structural awkwardness and run-on phrasing, such as in the concluding sentences. Frequent errors occur in verb forms, tenses, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions within grammatical patterns, for example, 'Schools in many countries remain close', 'student has spend its time', and 'if I my consider my self'. Punctuation is also erratic, with missing commas and incomplete boundary control between clauses. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a restricted grammatical repertoire.

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