Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

Task 2

In many countries, many schools shut down in vacation. Moreover, they closed for months to give break to students for fun activities. I discuss this topic and provide my opinion.

On the one hand, people argue with this statement, they think that this leads to loss in education and students suffer a lot. However, there should be less holidays for the students. Because this make children lazy in their work and they also disconnected from their studies. People are not in favour with this trend. They think if students not give time to their study may fail in their exams.

On the other hand, people think there should be more holidays for students so that they can develop new skills and strength in their body in these breaks. They can spend time with their freind and family members. Student who are above 15 to 18 can learn new thing in these vacations. This will make them more knowledgeable and intelligent among others. For example, they learn new game or they can enrolled in computer science learn coding that benefits them in their higher education.

In my opinion, there should be enough holidays for the students so that they reduce their stress and burden of their studies. This will not only help them to stress free also they become more active for upcoming days.

In conclusion, although people have distinct argument regarding this trend, individuals and schools should take combined steps to make a balanced decision regarding school holidays. Students and teachers get enough time for relaxation and focus on their proffestions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions by discussing benefits of longer breaks, such as developing skills and spending time with family, and arguments for shorter holidays, including the risk of losing study habits. Your opinion—that students need enough time to reduce stress—is also stated. However, the discussion is only partly developed: the case for shorter holidays is brief and relies mainly on students becoming lazy or failing exams, while the value of long holidays is supported by just one example about learning coding. The opening says you will provide an opinion, but does not clearly introduce the two sides. Explain each benefit and drawback more fully, and make your position on the balance between holiday length clearer throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two viewpoints, your opinion, and a conclusion. The signposts “On the one hand” and “On the other hand” help readers identify the contrast. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear: the first body paragraph begins “people argue with this statement” without specifying which position is being challenged, then shifts to the case for shorter holidays. Some linking is mechanical, and “Because this make children lazy” is left as a fragment rather than connected smoothly to the preceding idea. The conclusion also introduces a general call for “combined steps” without explaining how this follows from your opinion. Use clearer references and connect each supporting point directly to its main claim.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “loss in education,” “develop new skills,” “reduce their stress,” and “higher education.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which makes parts of the message less natural: “shut down in vacation,” “argue with this statement,” and “focus on their proffestions.” There are also spelling errors such as “freind” and “proffestions.” Repetition of “students,” “holidays,” and “think” further restricts the range. Build a bank of precise topic phrases and check spelling; for example, use “close for the summer break,” “argue in favour of shorter holidays,” and “maintain academic progress.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex forms, including a conditional idea (“if students not give time to their study may fail”) and the paired structure “not only … also.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to follow. Examples include “this make children lazy,” “Student who are above 15 to 18,” and “they can enrolled,” which show problems with agreement, plurals, and verb forms. The sentence beginning “Because this make…” is also incomplete, and the conditional needs a clear subject and correct verb form. Practise building accurate sentences with one main clause and a supporting clause, then check agreement, articles, and verb forms before adding more complexity.

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