Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The elementary and middle schools shuts down for either sixty days or more during the summer beak in majority of the countries. A longer term break gives the chance to travel different regions while a shorter vacation can improve the academic conditions and skillsets of the students.

The term break provides enough time to travel around the world enabling students and their families to enjoy quality time and get exposure of different cultures and traditions. For example, a family living in Pakistan can plan a trip to Europe and enjoy a totally different experience in distinctive countries for a month which is not possible during the rest of the year as the children have to go to schools while other family members are busy with their committments.

However, a shorter summer break provides more opportunities to the students as they can learn more skills. For instance, a school gives one month off to the students instead of two months and call them during the summers encouraging them to participate in the summer camp helping them learn new skills like a different language, sports or improving their IQ levels. In addition to this, lesser school holidays can help in improving the academic levels of those students who suffer during normal school days and requires extra effort from the teachers and the parents. Suppose, Hamza is weak in academics leading to poor performance while requiring extra attention from the teachers. Hamza's condition can be improved if he has been given extra time during the year where the counsellors work on his weaknesses and help him understand different concepts, setting a solid academic foundation for him.

It is commonly prtacticed by primary and secondary schools to give vacations for either two months or more than that. A longer break can help families plan their trips while shorter vacations can give opportunities to improve a student's life academically.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing the value of long holidays as well as the arguments in favour of shorter ones, maintaining a clear position throughout. However, some ideas are under-developed or lack sufficient extension. For example, the point about travelling and experiencing different cultures is mentioned but supported only by a single personal family example rather than being fully elaborated with broader societal benefits. Similarly, the arguments for shorter breaks introduce relevant concepts such as skill acquisition and remedial academic support, but the explanations remain somewhat limited and rely on a specific hypothetical scenario about a student named Hamza rather than generalized arguments. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to provide more fully developed explanations and wider-ranging examples for each main point.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, and the body paragraphs are logically divided to discuss the two distinct prompt questions. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'For example', 'However', and 'In addition to this', which help to guide the reader through the text. However, referencing and cohesion can at times feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, and paragraph transitions lack the seamless progression seen at higher levels. For instance, the transition into the hypothetical example about Hamza feels a bit abrupt rather than smoothly integrated into the broader argument about academic improvement. To achieve a higher band, the writer should ensure that cohesive devices are used more flexibly and that referencing within and across sentences is managed with greater fluidity.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'distinctive countries', 'committments', and 'academic foundation'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies, word choice slips, and spelling errors that prevent the response from achieving a higher score. Examples include 'shuts down' instead of 'shut down', 'beak' instead of 'break', 'get exposure of' instead of 'get exposure to', and the spelling mistake 'prtacticed'. Furthermore, phrases like 'call them during the summers' show awkward collocation. To reach the next level, the writer needs to expand their control of less common lexical items, refine word choices for greater precision, and eliminate spelling and collocation errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use varied structures such as relative clauses and conditional-style constructions. However, there are frequent grammatical errors in verb forms, agreement, prepositions, and articles that detract from the overall accuracy. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('primary and secondary schools shuts down'), incorrect prepositions ('travel different regions' instead of 'travel to different regions'), and awkward verb tenses ('if he has been given extra time' instead of 'if he were given extra time'). While these errors rarely impede overall communication, they persist throughout the text. To attain a higher band, the writer must produce a greater proportion of error-free sentences and demonstrate tighter control over complex grammatical patterns.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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