Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-11

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, primary andd secondary schools close for two months or more during the summer holidays.while some beleive it provides vital benefits for childerns and some argue that this break is unnecessary.in many opnion, long summer holidays are good for students for development and family bonding.

To begin with, the primary advantage of a long summer break is that it gives students a much-needed rest from academic pressure. Throughout the year, children face stress full schedules, daily homework, and stressful exams. Furthermore, this break offers students the freedom to pursue other interests outside the traditional classroom. They can engage in sports, learn musical instruments, read books of their choice, or develop creative hobbies.

On the other hand, critics to point out that long holidays significant learning loss, students forget a education of what they learned the previous year. Additionally, working parents can face severe childcare challenges during these months, childcare costs can be stressful.

However, these challenges can be easily to do through proper planning. Parents and communities can enroll children in summer camps, educational workshops, or outdoor programs. These activities keep young minds active while still offering a relaxed environment compared to regular school.

In conclusion, despite the minor drawback of academic regression, long summer holidays are invaluable. They offer children the necessary downtime to relax, explore personal passions, and spend quality time with their families, ensuring they return to school refreshed and motivated.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: the first body paragraph explains the value of a long break through rest and opportunities for hobbies, while the next identifies learning loss and childcare difficulties as arguments for shorter holidays. Your conclusion also makes your position clear. However, the discussion of shorter holidays is less developed: the effects of forgetting previous learning and the pressure on working parents are mentioned but not explained with examples or detail. The opening also promises family bonding, but this benefit is not developed in the body. The response is 228 words, so it does not meet the 250-word minimum; the eight words copied from the task prompt are excluded. Develop the less-supported points and add a relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, paragraphs presenting benefits and counterarguments, a response to those concerns, and a conclusion. Linking phrases such as “To begin with,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the main direction. However, the paragraph about shorter holidays is brief, and the following “However” paragraph shifts to solutions without fully explaining how these address the arguments. The opening also runs several ideas together, making the position less easy to follow at first. Use clearer sentence boundaries and develop each paragraph around one fully explained point; connect the proposed camps and workshops explicitly to both learning retention and childcare.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary for the topic, including “academic pressure,” “pursue other interests,” “childcare challenges,” and “educational workshops.” These phrases communicate the main ideas and show some ability to use topic-specific language. However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “beleive,” “childerns,” and “critics to point out.” Some combinations are also inaccurate or unclear, such as “stress full schedules” and “a education of what they learned.” These slips sometimes make the reader pause, even though the overall meaning is generally recoverable. Check spelling carefully and learn common collocations as complete phrases, especially when describing learning loss, parental responsibilities, and children’s activities.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, for example, “Throughout the year, children face stress full schedules, daily homework, and stressful exams” and the sentence beginning “They can engage in sports.” Most ideas remain understandable, but there are several errors in sentence construction and punctuation. The opening joins sentences incorrectly after “holidays,” and the claim “long holidays significant learning loss” lacks a verb. In “these challenges can be easily to do through proper planning,” the passive structure is not formed correctly. The sentence about childcare also joins two independent ideas with only a comma. Practise complete clause structures, accurate passive forms, and punctuation between independent clauses, while retaining your attempts at longer sentences.

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