Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-04

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 6.0)

In many nations, summer school holidays last for two months or more in primary and secondary schools. These long vacations can allow kids to participate in different sports and extra curricular activities. However, it is believed that shorter school holidays can make children stay connected and it can improve the academic performence of children. In adition, tutors will not be unemployed for long time.

On the one hand, long school vacations provide children with opportunity to take part in numorous sports activities as well as participate in extra curricular activities. During the academic season pupils don't get enough time to participate in these programs. They are forced to focus completely on their studies. As the academic compition is increasing at an enormous rate, they spend their whole day craming and stressing about exams. However, during long holidays they can spend time on these outside of studies activities without any tension. For instance, in Qatar, primary as well as secondary schools close for at least three months in which kids are suggested to take part in sports such as football or cricket etc. As a result children don't get exausted with studies and also make themselves physically active by taking part in different sporting events.

On the other hand, proponents of shorter school holidays argue that a lot of their time is wasted in long holidays and their academic performences drop drastically. Obviously, if they will stay away from books for upto two months, it will have negative effects on their academic results. In addition, most of the private schools don't pay their teachers with salary during long summer vacations. So, by having shorter holidays this problem can also be resolved.For example, in japan, tutors are payed during summer vacations as they are very short and last only 20 days.

In conclution, the benefits of long summer holidays include relaxing children from the stress of study and let them take part in activities other than study which will improve their mental health and the reasons for short holidays include connectivity with academic sylabus and providing teachers with salary easily

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task, examining both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones, maintaining a clear position throughout. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. For instance, the discussion on the value of long holidays is supported well with a specific example about sports programs in Qatar. Conversely, the argument regarding teachers' salaries and shorter holidays is less thoroughly extended, and the claim about staying connected is mentioned in the introduction but not deeply elaborated in the body paragraphs. To reach a higher band, all parts of the prompt would need equal depth, with every main idea fully supported by comprehensive explanations and relevant examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear central topic for each paragraph, utilizing a conventional four-paragraph structure. Information and ideas are logically sequenced, moving naturally from the introduction to the body paragraphs discussing opposing views, and finally to a conclusion. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand' are used correctly, but referencing and substitution are occasionally repetitive, and transitions between sentences can feel slightly abrupt. Furthermore, the progression in the conclusion introduces minor new points rather than effectively summarizing the main arguments. To achieve the next level, the use of cohesive devices would need to be smoother and more flexible, ensuring seamless transitions between sentences and paragraphs without relying on formulaic transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'extra curricular activities', 'enormous rate', and 'drastically'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors that occur throughout the text, such as 'performence' instead of performance, 'in adition' instead of addition, 'numorous' instead of numerous, 'craming' instead of cramming, 'exausted' instead of exhausted, 'payed' instead of paid, 'sylabus' instead of syllabus, and 'conclution' instead of conclusion. While these errors do not seriously impede communication, they restrict the score. To progress further, the writer needs to expand their control of less common lexical items, ensure correct word formation, and eliminate spelling mistakes through careful proofreading.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures such as conditional-like clauses and subordinate clauses effectively in places, as seen in sentences starting with 'As the academic compition is increasing...'. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, including missing articles ('take part in opportunity'), preposition errors ('connected with academic sylabus'), and minor agreement issues. Fortunately, these errors rarely impede communication and the meaning remains clear. To achieve a higher band, the writer would need to demonstrate a wider variety of complex structures with greater frequency, maintain a higher proportion of error-free sentences, and improve control over articles and prepositions.

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