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)

It is popular in many countries, that during the summer holiday elemintary and secondary schools are closed for almost two months. I think students can improve their skills easily in this vecation, whereas many believes schools should have shorter holiday so learner can get more knowledge.

There are many values why schools should have long holiday. One of these values is learners can improve their skills. In other words, some students have hobbies or talents, so they will take extra cousres during this long holiday. For instance, in my secondary schools i had a three months summer holiday. Additonally, my father enrolled me in a football club,the i became a good football player. Another value is, parents can travel with their children to discover new countries.

To adress the argument that school should have shorter holiday.Many parents think that, children will gain more informations if they have less holiday. In simple words, students will have the ability to be more productive , in which schools will asset them with basic need as well as improving their their weakness. For example, during my elemintary school, my school provided many extra activities during holidays. My parents chosed soem for me so i gained experience that helped me later to deal with difficult situation. Furthermore, parents can have more free time to do their work.

To conclude, students can gain many beneficial skills and visit anorher country if they have longer holiday. However, students will be better in dealing with difficult situation and be more academically professionate if the school have short period off holiday.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both questions and maintain a clear overall view: long holidays allow students to develop interests and travel, while shorter breaks may support learning and give parents more time for work. The football-club example gives the first benefit a personal, relevant illustration, and the account of holiday activities also supports the case for shorter breaks. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained. For example, the claim that students gain “more informations” with less holiday needs a clearer link to how additional school time improves learning. The point about parents travelling is also brief. Develop each main argument with a specific explanation or example, and make the comparison between the two positions more explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two sides, and a conclusion that restates the contrast. Signposting such as “One of these values,” “For instance,” and “To conclude” helps readers follow the main direction. At times, however, linking is mechanical or unclear. The paragraph beginning “To adress the argument…” has a full stop where a comma or a complete introductory sentence is needed, and “In simple words” does not clearly connect the explanation to the preceding claim. Some references, such as “they” in the football-club example, are not immediately clear. Use transitions that show the precise relationship between ideas, and check sentence boundaries and pronoun references.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “hobbies,” “talents,” “extra courses,” “productive,” and “extra activities.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “deal with difficult situation.” However, the range is limited and several inaccurate word choices, collocations, and spelling errors make the writing less natural and occasionally slow the reader. Examples include “elemintary,” “vecation,” “asset them,” and “academically professionate”; “more informations” is also an incorrect form. Aim to learn common word partnerships and check spelling and word forms carefully. More precise terms for learning outcomes and holiday activities would help you express the arguments with greater clarity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast with “whereas” and explanations introduced by “In other words.” The overall meaning is generally understandable, but some sentence structures and grammatical patterns are inaccurate. For example, “many believes schools should have shorter holiday” has subject–verb and number agreement problems, while “To adress the argument that school should have shorter holiday” is a sentence fragment. In “if the school have short period off holiday,” the subject and verb do not agree, and the clause needs a clearer grammatical form. Punctuation also sometimes disrupts sentence boundaries. Practise building complete sentences with accurate agreement, articles, and plural forms, then proofread for commas and full stops.

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