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 most countries, summer vacations are for almost two months or longer for primary and secondary school children and is often argued to be longer than needed. I partly agree with this opinion as vacations allow students to indulge in different activities and develop new skills.

There are number of reasons why majority of the educational institutes include months of vacations in their academic year. The primary reason is that holidays give an opportunity to students to utilize their time effectively by learning new skills and explore new talents. Most pupils during the summers engage in various activities such as learning how to play guitar, joining swimming club and signing up for ther summer camps which require time and dedication. This way, children get an opportunity to participate in physical activities and also develop social skills that will not only help them in their future but also in their daily lives. Moreover, long school holidays offer extra time to students to relax and be creative without any stress or pressure. For example, during vacations, football tournaments observe an influx of young children because they are able to contribute both physically and mentatlly on their hobbies

Although, many countries follow two month or more vacation period, I firmly believe that extended holidays are highly beneficial for young children. The most significant drawback is that parents and teachers share the opinion that children tend to forget basic concepts from previous year's curriculum without proper practice. Subject like maths, requires extensive practice by students and if not done, can result in extra classes or revision. Furthermore, it becomes difficult for parents to look after every child and follow different schedules along with their full time jobs.

To sum up, while having lengthy summer vacations for young children can have mutiple advantages, it downsides are also a concern for parents teachers. I firmly beleive that if created a balance between hobbies and revision, vacations can be helpful for students.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the value of long school holidays and arguments in favour of shorter ones, as well as stating a clear position. However, some parts are more fully developed than others. The discussion on the value of holidays is well-supported with examples like football tournaments and learning the guitar. In contrast, the counter-argument regarding parents struggling with schedules and children forgetting basic concepts is somewhat generalised and lacks specific elaboration. To reach a higher band, all ideas would need to be equally extended, thoroughly supported, and explored in greater depth throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear stance established in the introduction and a concluding summary at the end. Paragraphing is utilised to separate distinct points, such as the benefits of holidays versus the drawbacks. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty, seen in transitions like 'Although, many countries follow two month...' which disrupts the flow of the sentence. Additionally, referencing is occasionally imprecise, and logical links between paragraphs could be smoother and more natural. To improve, the writer should employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices while ensuring referencing is consistently clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'indulge', 'influx', and 'curriculum'. However, there are notable word choice, collocation, and word form errors that prevent the response from achieving a higher mark, such as 'joining swimming club' (missing article), 'ther summer camps' (spelling slip), 'Subject like maths' (singular/plural mismatch), and 'its downsides' (incorrect possessive form). These errors do not impede communication, but they highlight a lack of precision. To progress, the writer needs to expand their control of collocations and reduce spelling and word-form inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writing exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to handle varied structures. There are several grammatical errors present, including subject-verb agreement issues ('vacations... and is often argued'), missing articles ('Subject like maths'), and prepositions inside grammatical patterns ('contribute... on their hobbies'). Punctuation also requires attention, notably missing commas after introductory phrases and clauses. Nevertheless, these errors rarely impede communication and the meaning remains clear throughout. To achieve a higher level, the writer must produce a greater proportion of error-free complex sentences and maintain tighter grammatical control over articles and pluralisation.

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