Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-02

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 many nations, educational institutons remain closed for 60-90 days during summers. This essay will discuss its advantages and disadvantages in upcoming paragraphs.

To begin with, if school remain close for some days during hot weather it will not only result in reduction of health issues due to bad weather but also helps to relax children because they only have some days to relax and recharge. On other days, they are busy in their academics and they do not have enough time for relaxation. Moreover, it can also be beneficial for parents as students spend alot of their time in schools and parents also have their work schedule it give opportunity to spend quality time with each other which helps to strengthen the relations.

Furthermore, children can get exposure of local areas by visiting the area with their parents during holidays. However, Sometimes they spend al of their time using phones rather than doing any physical and mental activity and using it excessively can leads to grave consequences. Long holidays create some challenges for students. For example, if students remain free all the time they get dumb because they can meet different students and teachers in their classrooms by which they can get to know about different events and can gain knowledge through lectures.

In conclusion, Although holidays plays a major role in student's lives, holidays should be given to a certain extent neither very short nor very long. Students get relaxed in holidays but sometimes it result in difficulties which results in. disturbing their overall academic performance.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the value of long school holidays and the arguments for shorter ones, but the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed. For example, while the writer mentions health issues and family time, these points are not fully extended with specific explanations or robust examples. The position is generally understandable, though the conclusion trails off abruptly with an incomplete sentence ("which results in. disturbing their overall academic performance"), which hinders full clarity. To move to a higher level, the writer needs to present fully developed main ideas supported by well-reasoned arguments and relevant examples for both parts of the prompt, ensuring the position is maintained clearly throughout without trailing thoughts.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is a basic organizational structure with clear paragraph breaks, and some attempts at logical sequencing are present. However, the progression of ideas lacks smoothness, and the overall arrangement feels disjointed at times. Cohesive devices are sometimes inaccurate, repetitive, or mechanically applied, such as the frequent reliance on basic connectors like "To begin with," "Moreover," and "Furthermore." Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as pronoun usage regarding whether "it" refers to the weather, the holiday, or the phone. To achieve a stronger score, the writer should ensure a clear overall progression of ideas, use a wider variety of cohesive devices more naturally, and maintain tight logical links between sentences and paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate to communicate the basic message, but there are noticeable errors in word choice, collocation, and word form throughout the text. Examples include spelling errors like "institutons," incorrect collocations such as "get dumb" instead of experiencing academic regression or learning loss, and grammatical word-form slips like "holidays plays" or "alot." Less common lexical items are attempted but often lack precision and natural style. To improve in this area, the writer must expand their vocabulary range, focus on accurate word forms, learn standard collocations, and eliminate spelling mistakes to ensure smoother communication for the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response relies on a limited range of sentence structures, and attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty or awkwardly phrased, such as the run-on sentence starting with "To begin with, if school remain close..." There are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ("school remain," "holidays plays"), missing articles ("during summers"), and punctuation errors, including sentence fragments. These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. To reach the next level, the writer should focus on mastering basic agreement rules, using articles correctly, and employing a wider mix of error-free complex sentence structures with careful punctuation.

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