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)

The debate between long summer holidays and short holidays in primary and secondary both has some impacts on their daily social life and education.While, long summer vacations can give an oppurtunity to gather around and make a healthy relationship between friends and relatives whereas, other people argue that it can hampered their study and other jobs

Firstly, Long vacations plays a significant role in individuals life while it gives a chance to communicate with their relatives and other social activities.public also can give some trips to many places as a result it can reduce the strees and a person can stay mentally healthy.For an example, people always try to spend their time through friends and relatives while other people do some co-curriculam activities Thus, it can make their relationship and social life active.

Secondly, Some people argues that short holidays are enough while they believe it can have a great effect on study and other purposes. they think it is important to cover the study due to upcoming exams. it is vital that they think it can memorized the lessons properly. For an example, early study can prepare for students to be prepared for upcoming admissions or job exams.As a result it will become less hard to pursue their goals.

In conclusion, i believe that both are essential for a students life. not only for carrier but also social life. one gives you oppurtunity to spend times with friends, relatives and family members which is important for reducing anxiety and creates a healthy social life while another one gives you enough space for pursuing goal and can be ready for facing upcoming consequences

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions by explaining that long holidays allow socialising, travel and stress reduction, while shorter breaks leave more time for study and exam preparation. Your conclusion also gives a balanced view that both have value. However, the discussion remains general: the value of long holidays is clearer than the case for shorter ones, which relies mainly on covering lessons and preparing for exams. The opening does not establish a precise position, and several points are asserted rather than explained—for example, how a shorter break improves learning or why extended holidays benefit students beyond social contact. Develop each argument with a specific example and make your overall view explicit from the introduction onward.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs signposted with “Firstly” and “Secondly”, and a conclusion. This makes the two sides of the discussion easy to identify. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear, and linking words can feel mechanical or be used inaccurately. For instance, “For an example” is repeated, while “Thus” and “As a result” do not always show a clear relationship between the preceding idea and its consequence. Some references are also vague, such as “another one” in the conclusion. Improve cohesion by grouping related points, using clearer cause-and-effect links, and referring directly to “long holidays” and “shorter holidays” rather than relying on general pronouns.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “social activities”, “mentally healthy”, “upcoming exams” and “pursuing their goals”. This is enough to communicate the main ideas, but the range is limited and several noticeable word-choice, collocation and spelling errors make parts less natural. Examples include “gather around” for spending time together, “give some trips” for taking trips, and “cover the study” for completing or reviewing schoolwork. There are also misspellings such as “oppurtunity”, “strees” and “co-curriculam”. Aim to learn topic-specific phrases in context and check spelling carefully; more precise vocabulary would help distinguish the educational and social benefits of each holiday pattern.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a contrast with “whereas” and a concluding structure beginning “not only”. However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, sentence boundaries and punctuation occur frequently enough to make some ideas difficult to follow. For example, “Long vacations plays” has a subject–verb agreement error, and “it can hampered their study” uses an incorrect verb form. The opening also joins sentences without appropriate spacing or punctuation, while “one gives you opportunity” is missing an article. Practise building accurate sentences with one main clause and a clearly controlled subordinate clause, then check agreement, verb forms and sentence boundaries.

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