Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-12
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)
Summer holidays are one of the biggest holiday we get as a student in several countries. There are some advantages and disadvantages of a long summer holidays. We can spend a lot of time with friends and family,enjoy our hobby and focus on learning unique skills . But this can also hamper their education and some students waste away doing nothing during this time.
On one side students can go enjoy a vacation during this long holiday with their family.It is the best time to strengthen their bond with family. Also they can hangout with their friends go to their houses,restaurants,stadium etc.Students can also enjoy their hobby. For example if someone is interested in football they can use this free time to practice their skills.It can also help them make new friends and be introduced to many new people. If someone likes to do gardening a long holiday is the best time for them to make changes to their garden. these hobbies can help a student get mental peace after immense academic pressure.
On the other hand there are some disadvantages of long holidays. For example , many parents believe that long holidays are making the kids stray away from education and thus putting their future at risk.Many students feel frustrated after returning to studies after a long vacation. Also, some students make very poor use of their time. they waste all their time by playing video games or consuming content in social medias.
Though long vacations have some negative effects they can be minimized with proper guidance. On the other hand the benefits of a good long summer holiday can't be denied.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
You address the value of long holidays by discussing family time, friendships, hobbies and recovery from academic pressure. You also introduce arguments for shorter holidays, including loss of study habits and unproductive use of free time. However, the response only partially answers the task: it does not explain what shorter holidays would improve or how they might address these problems. The final paragraph says the benefits cannot be denied, but this is not a sufficiently clear, developed position on the two questions. Several points, such as students feeling frustrated when they return to study, are mentioned without explaining why or giving a relevant example. Develop both sides more evenly and make your overall view explicit.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph on the benefits, one on drawbacks, and a brief conclusion. The contrast signposts “On one side” and “On the other hand” help readers follow the main direction. Within paragraphs, however, ideas sometimes read as a list—for example, family vacations, friends, football and gardening are added one after another without enough explanation linking them to the value of a long break. Some transitions are mechanical, and the conclusion repeats the contrast rather than drawing the discussion together. Use clearer links between each claim and its explanation, and ensure references such as “they” and “this” have an unmistakable antecedent.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You use a relevant range of vocabulary, including “strengthen their bond,” “academic pressure,” “frustrated” and “putting their future at risk.” These expressions help communicate the topic, and the examples of football and gardening make the discussion concrete. However, the range is uneven and some choices or collocations are inaccurate or informal, such as “one of the biggest holiday,” “go enjoy a vacation,” “hangout” and “waste away doing nothing.” “Content in social medias” is also an unnatural phrase. These issues do not prevent understanding, but they reduce precision and control. Aim for more formal, natural expressions and check plural forms and collocations when revising.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a conditional example beginning “If someone is interested in football” and a contrast introduced by “Though.” Most ideas remain understandable, but some errors in agreement, articles, sentence boundaries and punctuation are noticeable. For example, “one of the biggest holiday” needs a plural noun, while “a long summer holidays” has inconsistent article and number. Several sentences run together, as in “Also they can hangout with their friends go to their houses,restaurants,stadium etc.” Capitalisation is also inconsistent after full stops, as in “these hobbies” and “they waste.” Improve sentence boundaries and proofread agreement and punctuation while continuing to use varied sentence forms.
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