Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-09

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 numerous nations, educational institutions offer school holidays about two or more months in the sunmer season. Although long school holidays are crucial for children mental well- being , shorter holidays help to children in be consistent in their academic performance.

On the one hand , a greater significance of long holidays take place in children's holistic development. For elaborate, when youngsters get vocations which help them to spend more quality time with their parents because when they are in school and do not get an adequate time for families due to their hectic study schedules.For instance, a significant number of families go to on trips or picnics to spend more precious time with parents and they can enjoy adventure activities . In addition, in vocations they get opportunities to develop new skills . Some children enjoy project work which help them to ehance creativity . others like to join dance club , sports club to get relief from stress of study . As a result, long holidays enable to develop new skills or hobbies .

On the other hand, favour in shorter school holidays believe that it ehances academic performance . For explain, if they get long period of holidays it may cause distraction to studies because they are more engaged in enjoyment instead of studies . So , if they get short holidays it helps to be regularly in studies and donot forget learned concepts . Additionally, children of those parents who both are working , it may find concers to manage the longer day -offs. In, shorter holidays is beneficial parents because they can easily moniter children during short holidays and also they can easily maintain their work schedules if school offer shorter holidays.

In conclusion, primary and secondary schools give holidays across the world. long schools holdays are advantages to children because they can develop new skills and get relief from pressure of academic stree . However, shorter holidays help children to be regular in studies and also help parents to maintain their work schedules.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both questions and maintain a clear comparison: long holidays are linked to family time, personal development and stress relief, while shorter breaks are associated with continued study and parents’ work schedules. These are relevant reasons, and examples such as trips, hobbies and working parents help make the discussion concrete. However, the value of long holidays is developed more fully than the case for shorter ones. The point that students may forget concepts is useful but would benefit from a specific explanation or example, and the claim that shorter holidays help parents needs clearer support. Develop each main reason with a fuller explanation to make the response more balanced.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two positions, and a conclusion that summarises the main points. Signposting such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” makes the progression easy to follow. This meets the lower-band expectations securely, and the paragraphing and overall sequence show some features of stronger organisation. However, connections within sentences are sometimes awkward or unclear, as in “because when they are in school and do not get an adequate time for families.” Some linking phrases also feel mechanical, and the conclusion largely repeats earlier points. Use clearer sentence-level links and vary how you connect explanations and examples.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “holistic development,” “academic performance,” “creativity,” and “work schedules,” and the reader can generally understand your main ideas. However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling, word-choice and collocation errors make parts of the response difficult to interpret. Examples include “vocations” for holidays, “For elaborate” for “For example,” and “get concers to manage” where the intended meaning is unclear. Repetition of “holidays,” “children,” and “help” also limits flexibility. Build a reliable set of topic phrases and check spelling and natural word combinations; precise, familiar vocabulary is more effective than inaccurate attempts at formal expressions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “because,” “if,” and “which,” and you use a basic range of tenses and sentence patterns. However, control is inconsistent, particularly in longer sentences, and errors sometimes make relationships between ideas unclear. For example, “when youngsters get vocations which help them to spend more quality time with their parents because…” contains an incomplete or tangled structure, while “children of those parents who both are working, it may find…” has faulty clause construction and agreement. Articles, plurals and punctuation are also inconsistent. Practise building one clear main clause before adding subordinate information, and proofread sentence boundaries and subject–verb agreement.

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