Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-05

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 7.0)

Schools in many countries remain close for 2 to 3 months for summer vacations. This essay will discuss the benefits of long holidays and also outline the importance of shorter holidays.

The main advantage of extended holidays is that students get a chance to rest and restore themselves as continuous work without break feels stressful. As a result, it increases their focus when they come back to school. They also get an opportunity to plan a trip with their families where they can visit and explore different places. This helps them to broaden their knowledge about their country and culture. Furthermore, some students also join summer camp where they get involved in multiple extra-curricular activities that teach them soft skills. For instance, students who visit hilly areas or historical places during vacations usually have more knowledge and they perform better in creative writing.

On the other hand, a lot of people support the idea of having shorter holidays as longer holidays can make students lazy. Many students also forget what they have learned before the holidays. Parents have to spend more time with them during the summer holidays which becomes difficult for working parents. Additionally, parents get the responsibility of their children to complete the homework during the summer break.

To conclude, long holidays give time to rest and explore but can make students lazy. In contrast, shorter holidays make things difficult for parents and can make students feel overworked. Hence, i believe long holidays have more benefits as compared to short holidays and to make long holidays more productive, homework and art activities can be given to students so they don't forget things and remain active.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones, maintaining a clear position throughout. Ideas are generally extended and supported, such as when the student explains how travel during vacations enhances knowledge of country and culture, or how summer camps help develop soft skills. However, there is a slight tendency to over-generalise in parts, such as the claim that longer holidays inherently make students lazy or that working parents uniformly struggle with homework supervision. These ideas receive adequate extension rather than deep exploration, meaning some points are slightly more developed than others. To move to a higher band, the response would need to offer more fully developed, nuanced arguments with richer supporting examples rather than relying on generalised assertions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, beginning with a clear introduction, moving through the benefits and counter-arguments in well-defined body paragraphs, and concluding with a balanced summary and personal viewpoint. Cohesive devices such as 'The main advantage', 'On the other hand', 'Furthermore', and 'To conclude' are used appropriately to guide the reader, showing flexibility despite occasional minor mechanical deployment. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, ensuring the structure supports the flow of ideas. To achieve a higher level, the writer could employ more subtle and varied referencing and substitution strategies, ensuring that transitions between sentences feel completely seamless rather than structurally formulaic.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, providing sufficient range to discuss both sides of the issue with reasonable clarity. The student attempts some less common lexical items, such as 'extended holidays', 'extra-curricular activities', and 'soft skills', showing a degree of awareness of style and collocation. However, there are occasional lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as writing 'Schools... remain close' instead of 'closed', and 'responsibility of their children' instead of 'responsibility for'. Spelling and word formation are generally controlled and do not impede communication. To reach a higher band, the writer needs to demonstrate a wider, more flexible range of vocabulary, incorporating more sophisticated and precise phrasing while minimising minor collocation slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.0

The essay shows good control of grammar and punctuation, featuring a variety of complex structures alongside simple sentence forms. There are frequent error-free sentences, particularly in the multi-clause complex sentences used to express concession and result, such as 'As a result, it increases their focus when they come back to school' and 'students who visit hilly areas or historical places during vacations usually have more knowledge'. Grammar and punctuation are generally well controlled, though a few minor errors persist, such as article omission ('join summer camp' instead of 'a summer camp'), subject-verb agreement slips ('i believe'), and lowercase pronoun usage ('i'). To progress further, the writer should aim for a higher proportion of error-free complex sentences and eliminate minor slip-ups in articles and capitalization.

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