Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Primary and secondary schools remain closed for more than two months during the summer holidays in a lot of countries. In this essay, I will discuss how longer holidays are vital for countries with warm climate, and how shorter holidays are important for the school's curriculum.

In some countries, students get a longer holiday during the summer due to harsh climate condition. Many countries located in warmer climate regions plan a longer holiday for students so that they won't have to suffer in warm summer days. For instance, Bangladesh is a tropical climate country with temperatures reaching upto 35 degrees celsius or more during the summer. Also, the country experiences frequent power outages, and intense thuderstorms during the summer. So, it is quite a challenge for young children to attend the schools in such conditions. As a result, longer summer holidays in these countries are really valuable to ensure students' overall welfare.

On the other hand, shorter holidays are important for the school to carry out their curricular activities on time. The longer the schools stay closed, the more pressure students and teachers experience to finish the curriculum in a year. Longer holidays might disrupt the workflow of usual curriculum year plans of the school. Eventually, both students and teachers get less time to finish the courses in due time. Shorter holidays can be a vital solution to this problem and maintain a gradual workflow of the school's curriculum.

In conclusion, longer summer holidays are essential for countries with warmer climate to ensure the students' wellbeing, while shroter holidays are valuable for the schools to carry out their curricular activites on time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both questions and maintain a clear contrast: long holidays can protect children in hot conditions, while shorter breaks can help schools complete the curriculum. The Bangladesh example, including heat and power outages, gives the first argument relevant support. This meets the task well, but the two sides are not equally developed. The value of long holidays is explained through specific local conditions, whereas the case for shorter holidays mainly repeats that the curriculum may fall behind. Explain more precisely how shorter breaks support learning—for example, by reducing the loss of knowledge over a long break or allowing more regular teaching—and qualify broad claims such as “the more pressure students and teachers experience.” That fuller development would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear, effective structure: an introduction presents both sides, separate body paragraphs develop each argument, and the conclusion restates the contrast. Transitions such as “For instance,” “As a result,” and “On the other hand” make the progression easy to follow. The ideas within the Bangladesh paragraph also move logically from climate to practical difficulties and then to student welfare. Some linking is a little mechanical, however, and the second body paragraph repeats the idea of completing the curriculum through “on time,” “in a year,” and “in due time.” Combine or vary these points, and use clearer reference where possible, so cohesion feels more flexible rather than relying mainly on explicit connectors and repeated wording.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for the topic and includes some useful subject-specific expressions, such as “power outages,” “curricular activities,” and “overall welfare.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and meaning remains clear despite occasional inaccuracies. However, some collocations and word forms are awkward: “harsh climate condition,” “warmer climate regions,” and “maintain a gradual workflow of the school's curriculum” do not sound fully natural. There are also spelling errors, including “thuderstorms,” “shroter,” and “activites.” Aim for more precise, natural combinations such as “extreme heat,” “hotter regions,” and “keep the curriculum on schedule,” and proofread carefully. This would improve control while retaining your relevant topic vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional purpose clause in “so that they won't have to suffer” and a comparative structure in “The longer the schools stay closed, the more pressure…”. Most sentences communicate their meaning clearly, and errors rarely obstruct understanding. Some grammatical choices nevertheless need attention. In “due to harsh climate condition,” the singular count noun needs an article or plural form; “with temperatures reaching upto 35 degrees” also contains a nonstandard form in the expression “up to.” The sentence beginning “Eventually” has an unclear construction: “both students and teachers get less time to finish the courses” would be clearer as “have less time to complete the courses.” Continue using varied structures, while checking articles, noun forms, and sentence clarity.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.