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)

School remain close for summer holidays in most of the countries in the world. Although this is a debateful topic, but no one want to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of this argument. I partly agree with this statement and in this essay i will discuss about the pros and cons of the schools closure.

Firstly, primary and secondary schools remain off because students can maintain their mental health. They release their stress during summer holidays. They spend time with their families and friends. For example, students went for trips with their friends. Their focus distract from books. Moreover, some students learn practical skills like content creation, video editing etc.

In conrast, some people believe that there are disadvantages of long summer holidays because students forget what they learned in school before holidays. They go to schools with blank mind. For instance, poor students help their families to earn money. They work with their parents in fields. In this way, they did not remained focused on studies.

In conclusion, long school holidays give students an opportunity to relax, spend time with their families, and develop personal skills. However, shorter holidays can help students maintain their academic knowledge and regular routines. Therefore, both types of holidays have their own benefits.

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 for shorter ones, but the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed. For instance, the points about mental health and learning practical skills are introduced briefly without sufficient extension or detailed examples. Furthermore, the length requirement is not met, as the response contains only 210 words, falling short of the mandatory 250-word minimum. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to expand significantly on each main idea with well-explained examples and fully satisfy the minimum word count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text demonstrates some overall organisation with clear paragraphing, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs addressing pros and cons, and finishing with a conclusion. However, there is a lack of clear progression throughout, and cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent reliance on simple transitional adverbs like 'Firstly', 'In conrast', and 'Moreover'. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, and the links between sentences do not always flow smoothly. To improve cohesion, the writer should employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices and ensure smoother transitions between ideas to build a more cohesive argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to convey the basic meaning of the topic. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'content creation' and 'academic knowledge', but there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, including 'debateful' instead of 'debatable', 'schools closure', and the spelling error 'In conrast'. These errors reflect a restricted control of word formation and collocation, which can cause some difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher score, the writer needs to incorporate a broader and more precise range of vocabulary while eliminating basic word choice and spelling mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing exhibits a very limited range of sentence structures, relying primarily on simple sentences with frequent errors in basic grammar and punctuation. There are numerous errors in verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and articles, such as 'School remain close', 'no one want', 'i will discuss about', 'Their focus distract', 'went for trips', 'with blank mind', and 'did not remained focused'. Attempts at complex structures are often faulty, and these frequent errors cause noticeable difficulty and strain for the reader. To progress, the writer must improve control over basic grammar rules, tense consistency, and sentence construction.

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