Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

In many countries, the rules that the primary schools and secondry schools reamin close for two months or giving more leaves in summer holidays. In long summer holidays children go on trips and refresh their mind, while shorter school holidays are better for acedamic continiuity.

On the one hand, if government implement the policy that for childrens summer holidays will be upto two month or more than two months because after one year of continiuse study student found himself very boared fro activities like teacher give the home work and you did not complete your home work so after completing their course in ten months a period of holidays is mendatory for student to go on trips and enjoy different places and also explore greenery places and also spend some quality time with their family and friends, for instance if you teach to childrens twelve months a course then feel bored and children want freedom so it is very valuable that after completing course teachers give them a two months of break for relaxation.

On the other hand, when childrens face a long break in their studies so thay do not want to study further they are completely exhausted from studies so shorter school holdays continiue their better acedemic and they will study wholeheartedly their subject because they did not face much gape, for example in pakistan a lot of students leave the school after summer holidays because after a long break in their studies they forget the previus learning and teacher beat them for their previus chapters.

In conclusion, giving a larger period of holdays will be better for refreshing students mind while shorter school holidays keep students with better academics.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions and present a relevant contrast: long holidays allow children to rest and spend time with family, while shorter breaks may help maintain academic continuity. The examples about trips and students in Pakistan forgetting previous learning support these points. However, the discussion is only partly developed. The value of long holidays is explained mainly through relaxation, and the argument for shorter holidays would be stronger with clearer explanation of how more frequent study prevents learning loss. Your position is understandable, especially in the conclusion, but the opening is difficult to interpret and the conclusion mostly repeats the two sides rather than clarifying which benefits you consider more important. Develop each reason with a clearer explanation and a specific, well-connected example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, one paragraph for each side of the question, and a conclusion. The signposts “On the one hand” and “On the other hand” help readers follow the comparison, and the examples are placed with the relevant arguments. However, progression within the body paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow because several ideas are joined into very long sentences. For example, the first body paragraph moves from government policy to boredom, homework, trips, and family time without clear sentence boundaries. Some linking is also mechanical, with repeated “and also” and “because.” Use shorter sentences, group related points, and make references such as “they” and “their” unambiguous.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “relaxation,” “academic,” “quality time,” and “previous learning,” and these choices make your main ideas understandable. However, the range is limited and several spelling, word-form, and collocation errors make the writing less precise, such as “continiuse study,” “much gape,” and “refreshing students mind.” Some expressions are also unnatural, including “explore greenery places” and “study wholeheartedly their subject.” These issues sometimes make the reader pause to interpret your meaning. Build a more accurate set of topic phrases and check spelling and collocations carefully; for example, use “maintain academic progress” and “spend time outdoors” where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to express reasons and contrasts using complex sentences, including clauses beginning with “if,” “because,” and “when.” This shows an effort to go beyond simple statements. However, the range is limited in practice, and complex sentences are often faulty or difficult to follow. For example, “if government implement the policy that for childrens summer holidays will be upto two month” has problems with clause structure, articles, agreement, and number. In “when childrens face a long break … so thay do not want to study,” the clause construction is also unclear. Errors in verb forms and sentence boundaries occur frequently enough to affect ease of reading. Practise building accurate sentences with one main idea and a clearly formed supporting clause.

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.