Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-14

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 and secondary schools provide students with long holidays. These extended holidays provide several benefits to students, including developing a range of skills and participating in extracurricular activities to strengthen their strengths.

Long summer holidays allow students to relax after academic pressure. It helps students recharge their energy for the new

session. During the academic year, students face stress and academic pressure from exams and assignments. It also gives students a chance to spend quality time with their families or go on outings with them. Mostly, students like travelling or developing new hobbies. For example, children visit their grandparents' home or learn new skills like painting, swimming, cooking, and cycling during the summer vacation. These activities improve their well-being and prepare them for school. These activities also build confidence and self-esteem in students.

On the other hand, shorter school holidays also have several advantages. One important argument is that students can maintain their routines and are less likely to forget information during the extended holidays. Students can also improve their reading, writing, and mathematical skills. Students may not be able to maintain their studies, and it is also difficult for teachers to revise the previous lesson while going to the next lesson. Shorter school holidays also cause problem to the parents to manage their work schedules. But the festive holidays like Eid, Easter, and Holi give an enjoyable environment for students to refresh from studies. However, these holiday least for a week but are memorable for the children.

In conclusion, Long holidays give students time to relax, spend more time with their family, and improve their abilities. But short holidays allow students to continue their studies. In my opinion, schools must maintain a balance between holidays that

help students to stay connected with their studies

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: the first body paragraph explains how longer holidays allow students to rest, spend time with family and develop hobbies, while the next presents benefits of shorter breaks, such as maintaining routines and retaining knowledge. These are relevant points, and the examples of painting, swimming and visiting grandparents help illustrate the value of summer holidays. However, the discussion is uneven: the case for shorter holidays is less clearly explained, and the point about parents’ work schedules is introduced without showing how shorter breaks help them. Your conclusion gives a general preference for balance, but the final sentence is incomplete, so your position is not fully expressed. Develop each argument with a clearer explanation and finish the conclusion decisively.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two sides and a conclusion. Transitions such as “On the other hand” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the broad direction. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes weakened by repetition: “These activities” begins two consecutive sentences, and “Students can” is repeated in the shorter-holidays paragraph. Some links between ideas are unclear, particularly the shift from students’ learning routines to parents’ work schedules and then to festive holidays. The final conclusion also breaks off after “that,” leaving the ending incomplete. Group related points more carefully, use referencing and transitions less repetitively, and ensure each paragraph develops a clear sequence of connected ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “academic pressure,” “extracurricular activities,” “self-esteem” and “maintain their routines.” These choices communicate the main ideas and show some willingness to use topic-specific language. There are, however, several imprecise or unnatural expressions, such as “strengthen their strengths,” “these holiday least for a week” and “cause problem to the parents.” Repetition of “students,” “holidays” and “activities” also limits flexibility. Aim for more natural collocations and vary repeated nouns where the meaning remains clear. For example, you could describe hobbies as helping children “develop their abilities,” and say that shorter breaks “create difficulties for parents arranging work and childcare.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple sentences and some longer structures, including the example sentence beginning “For example, children visit their grandparents’ home…” and the contrast introduced by “On the other hand.” Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors and incomplete structures reduce accuracy. In “It helps students recharge,” the pronoun does not clearly agree with the plural subject “holidays”; use “They help.” The sentence “Students may not be able to maintain their studies, and it is also difficult for teachers to revise…” is awkwardly constructed and needs a clearer relationship between its clauses. The conclusion ends with “that help students…” without completing the sentence. Check agreement, clause structure and sentence completion, while continuing to practise a wider range of complex forms.

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