Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Primary and secondary schools shut down for two months or more during the summer in so many school so as to enable children learn other life surviving skills and also be helpful at their homes. However, the school could utilize some time from this vacation better by teaching the students core technology skills because the world is highly digitalized now.

On the one hand, parents see long vacation as an avenue to instill great morals in their children. When a child spends more time in school more he spends at home, he learns a lot of vices from his friends, giving the parents little or no time to nuture the child. But when the holidays are long, it is an opportunity to spend quality time with your children, get to know them better and teach them the way of the family. In addition, it is the best time to learn skills outside school-related work. Life outside school is not easy hence, parents like to encourage their children to learn a skill. This will help them later in life when trying to navigate life. For example, an average Nigeria parent registers her child for skill acquisition during long vacations, which most of the time helps them when they don't get a job. This shows how important long schoool breaks should are.

On the other hand, schools taking some time from the long holiday break to keep the students in school, while utilizing the time to learn technological skill is a great investment. This is because the world has advanced and artificial intelligence is taking over people's jobs. When they master the act of being creative and innovative, they can invent things that can in turn make their lifes better and also make the world a better place. Also, it reduces how fast they meet and associate with bad people. Some students always look forward to leaving the school so they can learn how to be a nuisance to the society, but they cannot actualize that if they are confined inside the school while being productive. For example, My school reduced our holiday three years ago so we can become better in programming and today, quite a number of us are good and well known programmers. Thus, the sociey can become better if schools take active action in reducing the holidays.

In conclusion, long school vacation does some good both for the children and the society. However, reducing it to few weeks will do more good.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses both questions and maintains a clear overall position: long holidays benefit children and families, but schools could use part of the break for technology learning. The discussion of family time, moral guidance and practical skills is relevant, and the Nigerian example gives the first argument some support. The programming example also illustrates the case for shorter holidays. This meets the task well, with some elements showing the fuller development expected at the next level. However, the argument that students may become “a nuisance to the society” is asserted rather than explained, and the benefits of long holidays could be balanced against their drawbacks. Develop each main point with a clearer explanation of how it answers the question.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two sides, and a conclusion. “On the one hand” and “On the other hand” make the shift between arguments easy to follow, while examples generally appear alongside the points they support. However, some links are mechanical, and the progression within paragraphs is occasionally loose. In the second body paragraph, the discussion moves from technology and employment to associating with “bad people” without a clear transition explaining the connection. References such as “This” in “This shows how important…” are also somewhat vague. Use more precise links between claims and examples, and organise each paragraph around one main idea with its explanation and evidence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses a range of relevant vocabulary, including “instill,” “skill acquisition,” “artificial intelligence,” “creative and innovative,” and “programming.” These choices help communicate the topic and show attempts to use less common language. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “life surviving skills,” “learn a lot of vices,” “master the act,” and “take active action.” Spelling and word-form slips, including “nuture,” “schoool,” “lifes,” and “sociey,” also reduce control. The meaning is generally recoverable, but these noticeable errors keep the vocabulary from being consistently precise. Prioritise natural collocations and check spelling and word forms during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional and subordinate clauses: “When the holidays are long, it is an opportunity…” and “When they master the act…, they can invent things…”. Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “in so many school” has an incorrect noun form, “the more time in school more he spends at home” is an incomplete comparison, and “This shows how important long schoool breaks should are” has faulty verb construction. There are also agreement and article problems, as in “reducing it to few weeks,” and some sentences are overloaded with clauses. Practise accurate comparisons, verb patterns and sentence boundaries while retaining the range of structures you attempt.

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