Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Nowadays, primary and secondary schools close for two months or more in the summer holidays around the world. Some people believe that long schools holidays are necessary for the students as it provides them more time to spent with family and doing recreational activities, while others argue that long school holidays are unnecessary because it provides the gap between students and knowldege they learned. Although both perspective have some merit, this essay discuss about both positive and negative arguments.

On the one hand, long school holidays are essential for students to participate on extra activities apart from their curricullam and syllabus. These activities are necessary for learning real life skills and culture. As a result, students can balance both education and major skills required for the them. Furthermore, months of holidays is the opportunity for students who wants refreshment, travelling and family time.

On the other hand, long holidays creates gap between the education and knowledge. Students may feel bored and demotivated to go to schools again. Students forgets the knowledge and skills they learned in school because of long gap. As a result, students become habituated in staying home and spents most of the time playing, rather than reading and writing.

In conclusion, Long study gap is necessary for the students as it promotes their mental health and provides opportunity for them to explore the culture and time to stay connected with their parents, while short holidays equally provides the same opportunity for them and do not distract their foundation of eduction they learned.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both questions by discussing benefits of longer holidays—family time, travel and extracurricular activities—and arguments for shorter breaks, such as preventing students from forgetting what they learned. However, the ideas remain general and are not supported with specific examples or explanation; for instance, the claim that activities teach “real life skills and culture” is not illustrated. Your conclusion is also unclear: it says long holidays are necessary, then suggests short holidays provide the same opportunity, without clearly resolving the comparison. The response is 241 words, so it is 9 words below the required minimum; the 14 words copied from the prompt were not counted. Develop each argument and state a consistent, clear position.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs beginning “On the one hand” and “On the other hand,” and a conclusion. This makes the two sides easy to identify. Within the paragraphs, however, ideas are listed more than developed, and the progression is sometimes unclear. For example, the first body paragraph moves from extracurricular activities to balancing skills and then to travel and family time without explaining how these points connect. The conclusion’s contrast between long and short holidays is also difficult to follow. Use linking phrases to show cause and result more precisely, and build each paragraph around one main claim supported by explanation or an example.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “recreational activities,” “demotivated,” “mental health” and “foundation.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation and spelling errors make the writing less natural: “long schools holidays,” “participate on extra activities,” “curricullam” and “knowldege.” Some expressions are also vague, such as “the gap between students and knowledge.” Aim for accurate topic-specific phrases, such as describing a loss of learning or a decline in academic retention, and check spelling carefully. More precise vocabulary would help you explain the effects of each holiday pattern without relying on repeated references to students, holidays and knowledge.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a contrast clause beginning “Although both perspective have some merit” and a cause-and-effect sentence beginning “As a result.” However, errors are frequent, and some complex constructions are faulty. Examples include “it provides them more time to spent” and “long holidays creates,” where verb forms or subject–verb agreement are incorrect. There are also problems with plural forms and sentence control, as in “Students forgets” and “months of holidays is.” These errors sometimes make the intended meaning harder to process. Practise checking the subject and verb in each clause, and use a smaller range of complex structures accurately before adding more variety.

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