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)

During summer vacations for two months or more the primary and secondary school are closed in many different nations. This is mainly because children's need a break to learn at home, visit there relatives and do some extra activities. This leads to critics demanding shorter holiday's as they think parent's don't take homework given to childern during this period seriously and slow down their learning ability.

The primary benefits are students have more time to spend with their family, watch cartoons, play at home with their cousins, which is essential for their mental health. Since, during the rest of the year students are bound to do homework, prepare for exams and complete assignments which leaves no room for other activities and causes a lot of stress. For example, a school with offers longer summer vacations will see an increase in number of students wanting to get admitted at their institution. This is because most parents prefer longer holidays and want their child to have a balance of study and other activities.

However, there are many opposing views as many parents struggle to keep their child descipline at home. Since, school gives longer holidays parents are unable to teach and complete all the homework given on time because the father is busy at his job and the mother has to look after household tasks. For example, if holidays are kept short students wont completely forget their ability to learn and as small homeork is easy to manage then a huge 2 months syllabus which is difficult to complete and students loose the motivation to do it as they are distracted by other activities going on.

In conclusion, their are many positive things for childern to do and learn during longer holidays, but at the same time people have soid arguments against it and want to protect their childern by being extra cautios about them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: the first body paragraph explains benefits such as family time, recreation and reduced stress, while the second presents the case for shorter breaks through parents’ difficulty supervising study and children losing learning momentum. However, the response only partially develops these points. The claim that longer holidays attract more students to a school is not clearly explained or supported, and the discussion of shorter holidays focuses mainly on homework rather than other possible benefits, such as maintaining routine or reducing learning loss. Your conclusion signals both sides, but “protect their children” does not clearly state your own view. Develop each argument with a clearer explanation and a relevant, specific example, and make your position explicit throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two sides, and a conclusion. This helps the reader follow the main contrast, and transitions such as “However” and “In conclusion” are useful. Some connections are nevertheless mechanical or unclear. The opening sentence beginning “This is mainly because” does not clearly connect the reason to the existence of long holidays, and several sentences begin with “Since” without a complete or smoothly connected main clause. The example about school admissions also interrupts the explanation of family time and stress. Group each paragraph around one central claim, then explain and illustrate it in sequence; use pronouns and linking phrases only when their references are clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “mental health,” “assignments,” “motivation” and “distracted.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation and spelling problems make parts less clear or natural. Examples include “visit there relatives,” “keep their child descipline,” “small homeork” and “soid arguments.” Phrases such as “watch cartoons” and “play at home with their cousins” are understandable but informal and narrow for an academic discussion. Aim for more precise expressions, such as “spend time with relatives,” “maintain a study routine” and “learning loss,” and check spelling carefully. More accurate collocations would make your arguments sound clearer and more appropriately academic.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “because,” “since” and “as,” and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, complex structures are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to follow. For example, “This is mainly because children's need a break” has an incorrect clause structure, while “Since, during the rest of the year students are bound to do homework…” is left without a complete main clause. There are also agreement and article problems in “the primary and secondary school are closed” and “a school with offers.” Practise building complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check agreement, articles and punctuation when joining clauses.

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