Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-06

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)

Nowadays, students get summer holidays for two months or more than that in primary and secondary schools. It is often argued that, whether pupils should get long or short holidays. In this essay, I will explain both aspects and give my opinion that what is best.

To begin with, long holidays ensure that children get some time to spend with their families and friends and gives them a chance to forget education for sometime. For instance, they can do few activities with their siblings which they cannot do in routine life due to lack of time. Furthermore, they can visit places far from their hometown and make acquaintances there which will be invaluable in the future. Moreover, kids can learn new skills in free time, such as pottery, cooking, cycling etc. Additionally, they can get enrolled in short courses online or on campus, for example computer course. Hence, this equips them with skills which would be useful to them in further studies.

On the other side of the edge, shorter holidays give students a chance to stay connected to their courses as they do not forget anything about their syllabus because of a minimised duration for off. When students get off for long time they engage themselves with other activities, this, therefore, puts them away from what they have learned previously, consequently leading them to seek poor grades.

To conclude, I would like to argue that, while shorter holidays help us stay connected to our learnings but this cannot be denied that long holidays provide us plethora of other advantages which cannot be outlooked. Therefore, in my opinion, instituitions should give long holidays, however, parents should have a check on their kids that they do not forget everything. This can be achieved through scheduled revisions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the value of long school holidays and the arguments in favour of shorter ones, while clearly stating your position. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others, which is typical of this level. For instance, while you provide a solid list of benefits for long holidays, such as spending time with family and learning new skills like pottery or cooking, the points are somewhat generalized and could be extended with more specific examples. Similarly, your argument regarding shorter holidays focuses effectively on retaining academic knowledge and avoiding poor grades, but this point could be expanded further to reach a higher level of development.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, demonstrating some elements of the next band through logical progression. You use standard cohesive devices to link your ideas together, such as 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'To conclude'. However, cohesion is sometimes a bit mechanical or repetitive in its transitions. Paragraphing is used adequately to separate your thoughts on long holidays from your discussion on shorter ones, though referencing and referencing pronouns are not always entirely clear, occasionally making the logical flow feel a bit abrupt between sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task and attempt to use less common items such as 'acquaintances', 'plethora', and 'outlooked'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'forget education', 'duration for off', 'seek poor grades', and 'instituitions', along with a spelling slip. These lexical errors do not seriously impede communication, but they prevent the vocabulary score from rising further. To improve, focus on mastering natural collocations and precise word forms rather than relying on translation-style phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms throughout your essay, demonstrating control over basic structures. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as missing articles, preposition issues ('on the other side of the edge' instead of 'flip side'), and punctuation errors like comma splices in complex sentences. Nevertheless, these errors rarely impede communication and the meaning remains clear. To reach the next band, you need to produce a higher frequency of error-free complex sentences and exercise better control over relative clauses and article usage.

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