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 today's world, there is ongoing debate about longer weekends in most of the schools. There are several arguments made on this topic.This essay examine both values and arguments.

To begin with, primary and secondary schools are remain close for two months or even more. This has a significant impact on the devolpment of a youngsters learning skill. For instance, in summer holidays school remained close for almost 3 months. This holiday period has a seriou impact on students who are unwilling to learn and unable to write. In contrast, holiday period should be reduced to 1 month only as it help students to recall the last taskt they had learnt.

On the another hand, another contributing factor is that a longer hoilday period considered as blessing for those students who really enjoy spending time with their families. However, young generation spend their longer holiday weekend outside the country, where they may feel relaxed from their stressful and hectic daily routine. For example, I spend my most of the holidays away from my hometown when i was in secondary school.However, I spent my last year secondary level school holiday in dubai with my younger siblings.

Ultimately, clear evidence suggest that there should be limited time period for holidays in school level, while the reasons are mentioned. Therefore, proper attention ought to be given to this issue by the authorities. Regarding to this, longer weekends should be reduced to at least 1.5 month, which is beneficial for the devolpement of several students out there.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: you mention the benefits of extended holidays, such as time with family and relief from a stressful routine, and argue that shorter breaks may help students retain what they have learned. The personal example about visiting Dubai also gives the discussion some support. However, the response does not consistently distinguish the value of long holidays from the case for shorter ones, and the opening refers to “longer weekends” rather than summer holidays. Several claims remain unclear or lightly explained, such as how a long break affects students’ learning skills. Make your position explicit and develop each side with a clear reason and a relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, so the reader can identify its broad structure. You also use signposts such as “To begin with,” “On the another hand” and “Ultimately.” However, progression within the paragraphs is not always clear: the first body paragraph moves from the length of the break to learning difficulties and then to a recommendation without fully explaining the links. The second paragraph shifts between family time, travel and personal experience, while “However” is repeated in ways that do not clearly show contrast. Use topic sentences that identify each argument, then connect each example directly to it and use referencing and transitions more precisely.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “development,” “stressful and hectic daily routine,” and “recall,” and these help communicate the general subject. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, sometimes making meaning less clear. For example, “longer weekends” is not an accurate term for extended summer holidays, and “school remained close” appears to mean that schools were closed. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “devolpment,” “seriou” and “hoilday.” Build a more precise set of topic phrases and check spelling and collocations carefully; this will make your ideas easier to understand.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a relative clause in “students who are unwilling to learn” and a subordinate clause beginning “while the reasons are mentioned.” However, control is inconsistent, and errors occur in verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence construction. Examples include “schools are remain close,” “as it help students,” and “a longer hoilday period considered as blessing,” where the verb structure or agreement is incomplete. Some sentences also run together, as in the transition between the Dubai example and the following sentence. Practise forming accurate subject–verb patterns and complete clauses, then check punctuation and sentence boundaries. More reliable control of these structures would make your argument clearer.

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