Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Primary and secondary schools shutdown for few months in alot of countries for the summer holidays.

Firstly, long school holidays can be beneficial for students that can utilize that time to upskill their knowledge, try new hobbies and get some rest, as schools routine can be hectic and overwhelming for majority of students. Summer holidays are good to enjoy the time with family and friends, tour places like beach and participate in fun activities like swimming. For instance when i was in school, i would wait for the summer holidays to approach, so i can work on my digital logic design project, for which i was not getting enough time to manage the project during my studies.

Secondly, their are few arguments that give a solid reasoning for shortening the school holidays. One reason is that students waste their time in certain activities that can be harmful for them, such as watching content that do not benefit them at all, scrolling on social media all day long. Not engaging in proactive activities, messing up their schedules and sleeping late at night. These types of activities do more harm than great. For example me and my brother were in same school. When our holidays begins he would start wasting his time playing games, watching non-sense content and eating junk foods, which is not bad if done in moderation, but he would do these things excessively. On other hand i would utilize that time in upskilling my knowledge in digital logic design, spend time fixing small electronics item and work on niche category that i would thoroughly enjoy.

In conclusion, long summer holidays are generally good for students that know how to utilize the time, whereas it can be argued that holidays can be shorten to stop those students that waste their time in non-beneficial activities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both questions and maintain a clear overall view: long holidays can support rest, interests and family time, while shorter breaks may reduce unproductive habits. The personal examples about your digital logic project and your brother make the discussion relevant and help explain the contrast. This meets the task well, but the two sides are not equally developed: the value of holidays is mainly illustrated through your own experience, while the case for shorter holidays focuses largely on excessive screen use and does not consider other possible benefits, such as maintaining learning routines. To strengthen the response, explain the consequences of shorter breaks more fully and qualify broad claims about students wasting time. Your conclusion restates the position but could draw the arguments together more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two sides and a conclusion. Sequencing phrases such as “Firstly,” “Secondly” and “In conclusion” make the progression easy to follow, and the examples generally appear beside the points they support. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and some links between ideas are abrupt. The second body paragraph shifts quickly from harmful activities to schedules and sleep, then to a long comparison between you and your brother. The contrast would be clearer if each paragraph had a focused topic sentence and the example were shortened or explicitly linked back to the argument. Check references such as “these types of activities” so it is always clear which behaviours are being summarised.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range to discuss the topic, including “upskill,” “overwhelming,” “moderation” and “excessively,” and the reader can understand your main points. There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “digital logic design project” and “proactive activities.” However, some choices are informal, imprecise or unnatural in an academic essay: “alot,” “non-sense content,” “waste their time” and “do more harm than great.” Spelling and word-form accuracy also need attention, including “shutdown” where a verb phrase is intended and “electronics item.” Aim for more precise collocations and a consistently formal register; this would make your arguments sound more controlled without requiring unnecessarily complex vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “as,” “when” and “which,” and your meaning is generally understandable. Some sentence structures are effective, but errors in agreement, articles, verb forms and sentence boundaries remain. For example, “their are few arguments” should be “there are a few arguments,” and “content that do not benefit them” needs subject–verb agreement (“content that does not benefit them”). The fragment “Not engaging in proactive activities, messing up their schedules and sleeping late at night” should be connected to a complete sentence. In the conclusion, “holidays can be shorten” needs the passive form “can be shortened.” Review these patterns and punctuate longer sentences carefully to improve accuracy while retaining your range.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.