Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-07

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 6.5)

Nowadays, schools in many countries close for two to three months in summer. These extended breaks offer several benefits but some individuals believe that shorter holidays would be more advantageous.

One of the main advantage of long summer holidays is that pupils gets the time to recover both mentally and physically. During that school year a significant amount of students undergo stress due to examination, tests, hectic lecture routines and extra-curricular activities. In addition, long breaks allow them to spend time with there family, friends and relatives and unwind from the stress and recurring boring routine, travel to places and pursue hobbies. These activities help strengthen family bonds, develop social skills and improve creativity.

Furthermore, long school holidays provide opportunities for informal learning like some attend language courses, painting classes and science camps.

However, there are several ideas supporting shorter school holidays as it helps to retain knowledge and language skills, minimising the detrimental effects of forgetting things. shorter school holiday would also help parents in arranging shorter childcare and maintain daily routine. Long summer breaks can widen the educational gap between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Children from wealthy families often continue learning through expensive summer camps and private tutoring, whereas finacially challenged students may lack access to these resources.

In conclusion, although long summer holidays give students valuable time to rest, spend time with their families and develop their interests, shorter school breaks can help them retain knowledge, maintain a regular routine and reduce educational inequality. Therefore, I believe that shorter but more frequent holidays would be more beneficial for students overall.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response addresses both questions and maintains a clear overall view: long breaks support rest, family life and personal interests, while shorter breaks may aid retention and reduce inequality. The supporting points are relevant, with examples such as language courses, painting classes and science camps. The conclusion also draws the discussion together and states a position in favour of shorter, more frequent holidays. To make the discussion more fully developed, explain the mechanisms behind some claims—for example, how shorter breaks specifically help pupils retain learning, or how schools and families might respond to the childcare issue. The point about unequal access to summer learning is useful, but could be linked more explicitly to the case for shorter holidays.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph on the benefits of long holidays, a contrasting paragraph on shorter holidays, and a conclusion. Transitions such as “Furthermore,” “However,” and “In conclusion” make the direction of the argument easy to follow. This coherent structure is a strength. However, some connections between ideas are abrupt or compressed. In the first body paragraph, the sentence beginning “In addition” moves through family time, travel and hobbies before listing several benefits; separating or more clearly linking these points would improve progression. The phrase “as it helps” also has an unclear reference, and the lowercase “shorter” after a full stop disrupts the flow. More precise referencing and smoother links would make cohesion less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for discussing education and holidays, and there are useful topic-specific expressions such as “educational gap,” “informal learning,” “extra-curricular activities” and “socioeconomic backgrounds.” These help communicate the main ideas clearly. There are also some inaccurate or unnatural choices that limit precision: “recurring boring routine” is awkward, “a significant amount of students” uses an unsuitable quantifier, and “finacially challenged” contains a spelling error. “Hectic lecture routines” is also not a natural description of school pupils’ schedules. Aim for more accurate collocations and check spelling carefully; this would make the vocabulary more flexible and natural without changing the essay’s clear meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex structures, including a relative clause in “Children from wealthy families often continue learning through expensive summer camps and private tutoring, whereas…” and a concessive structure in the conclusion. Meaning remains clear throughout. Some grammatical errors occur, particularly with agreement and sentence construction: “One of the main advantage” should be plural, and “pupils gets” should be “pupils get.” In “During that school year a significant amount of students undergo stress,” the determiner and subject construction need attention. The list beginning “unwind from the stress …, travel to places and pursue hobbies” is not smoothly integrated into the sentence. Review subject–verb agreement, plural forms and punctuation, while continuing to use varied sentence patterns.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.