Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-03

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)

Yes there are any countries where students gets holidays for more than two months and there are many reasins for it. One of the main reason is because of extremely hot weather which is harmful. The students can travel anywhere and learn about different cultures and they can have time for family and social activities. In Dummer Vacations there are many students which do thier hobbies more actively like sports , singing and other things because they got enough time during these vacations. The students with thoer family can spend quality time together and children can develop independence and life skills outisde school. In addition the teachers also get time to rest and prepare for next academic year

Shorter school holidays can also offer several advantages for students and their families. One major benefit is that students are less likely to forget important information and skills they learned during the academic year. When children remain away from school for several months, they may lose some of their academic knowledge and require additional revision when classes resume. Shorter breaks can therefore help maintain a regular learning routine and allow students to make more consistent academic progress. Furthermore, having more school days gives teachers additional time to complete the curriculum and provide students with extra practice in difficult subjects. Shorter holidays can also be more convenient for working parents because they may face fewer childcare problems during the school year. Consequently, children can maintain a more consistent educational routine.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones. However, the first paragraph is somewhat limited and under-developed, listing multiple points such as hot weather, travel, and hobbies without fully extending them. Furthermore, the response is three words short of the two hundred and fifty-word minimum, which slightly impacts the completeness of the task. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to fully develop all ideas with extended explanations and examples, while ensuring the minimum word count is comfortably met.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear division between the two main aspects of the prompt. Paragraphing is used appropriately, separating the discussion on long holidays from the arguments for shorter ones. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or relies on simple connectors like 'In addition' and 'Furthermore'. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as the ambiguous transition into the second body paragraph. To improve Coherence and Cohesion, the writer should employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices and ensure smoother transitions between sentences and paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the main points with a mix of everyday and moderately complex terms such as 'academic year', 'curriculum', and 'childcare problems'. However, the range is limited, and there are noticeable lexical errors, such as spelling mistakes ('reasins', 'Dummer', 'thier', 'thoer', 'outisde') and occasional awkward word choices. These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they restrict the score. To achieve a higher band, the writer must expand their vocabulary range, incorporate less common lexical items with correct collocations, and eliminate basic spelling mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The text displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some ability to handle subordinate clauses, as seen in conditional and relative structures like 'When children remain away from school...'. Nevertheless, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, including subject-verb agreement issues ('students gets', 'there are many students which do'), missing articles, and awkward phrasing. These errors require some effort from the reader to untangle. To progress, the writer needs to increase the proportion of error-free sentences and exercise tighter control over basic grammatical rules and punctuation.

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