Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-15

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)

There is a common belief that students are taking their education in primary or secondary schools should have summer break for long time while others claim that it should be for a short period of time. I think it depends on the students ability and the way they take the best advantage of it.

On the one hand, students can take the advantage of long holidays by using the mean time to revise their previous syllabus, helping them to perform well in the exams. Moreover, they can also spend some of their time with their friends and family which will help them improve their, as taking some break from studies. By spending some quality time outdoors will also improves your mood and help you focus well in your studies. Furthermore, they can use this time by learning new skills such as cooking, art, fashion or any new language. This give them a track to their future more easily and they get to know about their hobbies and interests.

On the other hand , need of short holidays is more beneficial for students academic performance. As large proportion of students do not have the habit of revising their syllabus at their own and others have a problem such as lack of memory skills. Therefore, it results in poor performance, as in their holidays they have lost the rhythm and learning again would be difficult. For example, a large number of students have to read their lessons again in order to remember them fully.

All in all, it can be concluded that both is beneficial for students but for choosing the better academic performance short holidays are better option as it will give them some time to refresh but do not effect their studies.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both questions and give a clear overall view: long breaks can support revision, family time and new interests, while shorter breaks may help students maintain their learning rhythm. These are relevant points, and the examples of learning cooking or a language make the benefits of a long holiday more concrete. However, the two sides are not developed equally. The case for shorter holidays is mainly based on students forgetting lessons and needing to relearn them; explaining how shorter breaks preserve continuity or support teachers’ planning would strengthen this argument. The opening claim that the best option depends on students’ abilities is not fully reconciled with the conclusion that shorter holidays are better. Clarifying and supporting that position would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two sides, and a conclusion. The signposts “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “All in all” make the progression easy to follow, and the ideas within the first body paragraph generally move from revision to recreation and skills. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent arrangement and shows some of the flexibility associated with stronger organisation. However, some links feel mechanical, and the second body paragraph is comparatively brief, so the discussion does not progress as fully on both sides. The sentence beginning “As large proportion of students…” is also a fragment, which interrupts the flow. Develop the shorter-holiday paragraph and connect each reason more explicitly to its consequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary for the topic, including “revise,” “academic performance,” “rhythm,” and “hobbies and interests.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and phrases such as “spend some quality time outdoors” show an attempt to express benefits beyond academic study. However, several noticeable word-choice and collocation problems make parts less natural, such as “take their education,” “use the mean time,” and “give them a track to their future.” Some wording is also imprecise or repetitive, particularly repeated references to “students” and “holidays.” This fits a limited but adequate range: meaning is generally recoverable, but errors sometimes make the reader pause. Aim for more natural academic collocations and precise phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “while,” “which,” and “as,” and the overall meaning is usually understandable. However, complex structures are often faulty, and errors occur across agreement, verb forms, articles and sentence construction. For example, “By spending some quality time outdoors will also improves” combines an incorrect opening structure with an incorrect verb form; “This give them” has subject–verb disagreement; and “both is beneficial” uses the wrong agreement. “As large proportion of students…” is an incomplete sentence, while “their, as taking some break” is difficult to interpret. These errors sometimes make the reader work to understand the intended meaning. Practise building accurate clauses first, then vary sentence patterns while checking agreement and complete sentence structure.

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