Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

In many countries, primary and secondary schools remain closed for two months or more during summer holidays. While these long breaks allow students to recover from academic stress, shorter breaks can help them to be in continuity with their academic learning. In this essay we will discuss both the views.

One major benefit of long school holidays is that pupils get enough time to relax and recover from their academic stress; additionally, they can spend quality time with their families. Moreover, during their vacations, they can also enhance other skills of their interest, for instance, dancing, singing, or sports such as cricket, tennis, or badminton. During the school days students could not get time to perform extracurricular activities. Therefore, long breaks are necessary because they allow students to explore their interests and develop their skills, which might not be taught in the classrooms.

Nevertheless, short school breaks are also beneficial for students in terms of maintaining study routines and habits. Additionally, after long breaks, scholars might feel difficulty in recalling past lessons taught in class, whereas short breaks do not interrupt students' learning. During mini-vacations children can spend some leisure time to relax their minds while maintaining continuity in learning.

In a nutshell, while long holidays provide time for students to relax their minds and recover from academic stress, shorter breaks allow them to balance continuity in academics and also relax their minds. From my perspective, long breaks are more advantageous for students, as during the vacations they can develop their skills and learn new things. However, if teachers give some homework for holidays, students can remain in touch with their academics while enjoying some leisure time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both questions: the benefits of long holidays are linked to rest, family time and developing interests, while the case for shorter breaks focuses on preserving study routines and remembering lessons. Your preference for longer holidays is clear in the conclusion, and the suggestion that homework could help students stay connected to their studies adds a relevant qualification. These points meet the task well, but some are asserted rather than fully explained. For example, the claim that short breaks maintain learning continuity would be stronger with a specific illustration or explanation of how this benefits pupils. The discussion is relevant throughout, though fuller development and support of both sides would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two positions, and a conclusion that states your view. Ideas generally progress logically, and linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “Nevertheless,” and “In a nutshell” help signal relationships. This gives the response a coherent arrangement. At times, however, the connections feel somewhat formulaic, and some ideas are repeated rather than advanced: relaxation appears in both the opening and conclusion, while the final paragraph restates the main contrast. The reference in “During the school days students could not get time” is also broad and could be tied more explicitly to the pupils discussed. More varied transitions and clearer links between claims and explanations would strengthen cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range for the topic, including phrases such as “academic stress,” “extracurricular activities,” “maintaining study routines,” and “continuity in learning.” These choices communicate the main ideas clearly, and examples of activities make the discussion concrete. There are also attempts at less common or formal vocabulary, but some combinations are not fully natural, such as “be in continuity with their academic learning” and “feel difficulty in recalling.” “Mini-vacations” is understandable but less suitable in this context than a more standard term for short school breaks. Repeated use of “relax,” “breaks,” and “students” also limits flexibility. More precise collocations and a wider range of topic-specific wording would improve control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses such as “While these long breaks allow students to recover…” and “as during the vacations they can develop their skills.” Most sentences are easy to understand, and punctuation generally supports the meaning. Some grammatical inaccuracies remain. For example, “students could not get time” uses an awkward tense in a general statement; “students do not have time” would be more appropriate. In “after long breaks, scholars might feel difficulty,” the construction needs an article or a different pattern, such as “might have difficulty.” The opening also shifts to “we will discuss,” which is less consistent with the essay’s later personal position. Greater accuracy in these patterns would make the varied structures more controlled.

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