Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

In some countries, the schools for primary and secondary classes is closed for two months during summer holidays. This is because students are given rest to get them relief from academic pressure. However, some schools provide short summer breaks as compared to the others which may increase the performance level of students to give their best in summative assessment examinations.

Schools who provides long vacations to students can help them release their academic stress and also to get relief from intense heat during peak summer days. This may help children to focus on their physical fitness by taking part in outdoor and indoor games in holidays. For example, playing cricket and football can make them physically fit and also they can feeled relaxed so they can focus on their studies after school re-opening.

On the other hand, the school who gives short breaks in summer can be a unhappy moment for child's life. However, this can boost the children performance level in the academic year which can help them to score good marks in examination. Also the school can complete their syllabus early as compared to the other schools, so that the children can get enough time to prepare for their exams. For example, the students can get help from their teachers to clear doubts on the spot and get sufficient time to study.

To conclude, the schools who gives longer holidays to children can help to get physically fit. But the school who provide less holidays

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response addresses the main parts of the prompt by discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones, giving some reasons and examples like playing cricket and football. However, the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed, lacking full extension. Furthermore, the response falls short of the minimum word count requirement, containing only 247 words instead of the required 250, and the conclusion is abruptly cut off mid-sentence. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to ensure the full completion of the task length and develop each main idea with more detailed explanations and fully formed concluding thoughts.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is a basic logical progression in the text, moving from an introduction to paragraphs discussing long holidays, short holidays, and a brief conclusion, showing some organisation. However, the overall progression is limited, and cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or inadequate, such as the repetitive use of 'The schools who' and 'For example'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the abrupt termination of the final paragraph disrupts the structural flow. To improve, the writer should use a wider variety of linking words and ensure that each paragraph is fully structured with a clear development of ideas from start to finish.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses a limited, minimally adequate range of vocabulary suitable for addressing the topic, employing words such as 'academic pressure', 'physical fitness', and 'summative assessment'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'is closed' instead of 'are closed', 'get them relief' instead of 'find relief', and the word form error 'feeled relaxed' instead of 'felt relaxed'. These inaccuracies show a restricted range of lexical control and occasional strain on the reader. To achieve a higher score, the writer should incorporate a broader variety of less common vocabulary and pay closer attention to natural word forms and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures, relying mostly on simple sentences alongside a few attempts at complex forms that often contain errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues in 'the schools... is closed' and 'the school who gives'. Frequent errors are present throughout the text, including pluralisation and preposition use, which can occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. To move up to the next band, the student must produce a higher proportion of error-free sentences, improve grammatical control over complex sentence patterns, and ensure correct subject-verb agreement.

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