Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

A highly controversial issue today relates to whether to have the summer primary and secondary schools close for two months. In this essay, I am going to examine this question from both points of view and then explain how these vacations benefit for young minds.

There are people who argue that the benefits of long-term days off impact students more positively because they relaxed and recharg themselves for hard work and get highier grades. For instance, when they enjoyed alot and stay away from the school, its quite more memorable time for them to make memories with friends and with near and dear ones. The main reason for believing that, after enjoying quality time, they focus more and put attention to their work because their bodies are fully recharged and ready to shine. Considerably. It is also possible to say that One good illustration of this is everything needs space or time to regain enery by having some free time.

On the other hand, others believe that this period must be shorter than two months. It is often argued, that student have less time to prepare for exams because they totaly leave the studies behind. People often have this argument because their children are getting lower percentage and facing hurddles and shortage of time to cover their curruculm on time. A second point is that when they could not get the target scores , they are not able to get their dream goals or jobs which lead them towards frustration and stress like diseases.

In conclusion, I believe both arguments have their own significant place. On balance, however, I feel that this period of time should be decrease in the sake of students' goals because to secure the future is more important than relaxation.

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 in favour of shorter ones, meeting the criteria for a partial and developing approach. Your position is expressed, particularly in the conclusion where you state your preference for shorter breaks, but the development of ideas remains limited and under-developed. For example, when discussing the benefits of long holidays, sentences like 'they relaxed and recharg themselves for hard work' touch on a relevant point regarding rest, but the idea is not fully extended with concrete explanation or strong supporting evidence. Similarly, the arguments for shorter breaks rely on general assertions about exams and stress without deep exploration. To move up, you should ensure that every main idea is fully elaborated with clear explanations and specific supporting details throughout the body paragraphs.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays some overall organization, with clear paragraph breaks separating the introduction, the two body paragraphs discussing opposing views, and the conclusion. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression between sentences, making the flow somewhat disjointed. Cohesive devices are sometimes used awkwardly or inaccurately, such as 'Considerably. It is also possible to say that One good illustration of this is...', which disrupts the logical development of your ideas. Reference words are also occasionally unclear, leaving the reader to guess connections between sentences. To improve cohesion, you should ensure that transitions between sentences and ideas are smoother, and that cohesive markers are applied accurately to guide the reader logically through your arguments without mechanical repetition.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, providing a limited range of words to express your ideas. There are noticeable lexical errors, including word form errors, spelling mistakes, and awkward collocations such as 'highier', 'recharg', 'alot', 'curruculm', and 'decrease in the sake of'. These errors sometimes cause difficulty for the reader and impede smooth communication. While you attempt some less common vocabulary, inaccuracies in word choice prevent precision. To achieve a higher band, you need to expand your lexical range and pay closer attention to correct word forms, accurate spelling, and natural collocations, ensuring your vocabulary is deployed with greater precision and control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a limited range of sentence structures, with frequent attempts at complex sentences that turn out to be faulty. There are frequent errors in grammar, including subject-verb agreement issues ('student have less time'), tense inconsistencies ('when they enjoyed alot'), and awkward prepositional or clause patterns ('benefit for young minds', 'lead them towards frustration and stress like diseases'). These frequent errors can cause difficulty for the reader in places. While simple structures are generally attempted, your control over complex forms needs strengthening. To improve your grammatical score, you should focus on reducing basic structural errors, ensuring accurate verb forms and tense consistency, and mastering complex sentence patterns so they remain grammatically sound.

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