Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-20

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)

In many states, primary and secondary schools close for two months or than it in summer holidays. Different counties announce summer holidays more than two months due huge heat wave. They may have to exctend holidays if the temprature did not become normal. Especially in asian countries, temprature may hit upto 50 degree in celcius which may become a cause of exstension in summer holidays.

Here i willl discuss the advantages of long holidays. In long holidays, student can get spare time to enjoy nature,have time to visit their relatives and to visit different places. In longer holidays, students have time to revise their previous topics or to clear their doubts by joining academies. Moreover, in these days students can get time to relax themselve and to meditate them. When i was in 10th standards, i was in great academic pressure. But when school announced summer holidays, i got time to relax me and to ready myself for further studies.

But when it comes to shorter school holidays, there are few arguments which are in favour of short holidays. Firstly, when short holidays are announced student do not ignore their studies they partially engaged in their study so it will be benificial for them in long term. Secondly, shorter holidays are always beneficial for those students who study in higher classes because they get more time to prepare themselve for their upcoming exam.

In conclusion, i wanted to say that both short and long holidays are more important but short holidays are more benficial for students because they can get time for their studies and may help in their academic progress.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: you explain the value of longer breaks through rest, family visits, revision and relief from academic pressure, then give reasons for shorter breaks, including maintaining study habits and preparing for exams. Your personal example about being under pressure in Grade 10 helps make one point relevant. However, the discussion is only partly developed: the heat explanation mainly describes why holidays may be extended, rather than explaining their value, and the arguments for shorter holidays are asserted without examples or explanation of how they improve learning. Your conclusion favours shorter holidays, but the position could be clearer and more consistently supported. Develop each main reason with a specific consequence or example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for long and short holidays, and a conclusion. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the main sections. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes limited: several benefits of long holidays are listed without being grouped or linked through explanation, and the opening focuses on heat before the essay’s main discussion begins. Some connections are mechanical, particularly the repeated use of “Moreover” and “Firstly/Secondly,” while the shift from the personal example to shorter holidays is abrupt. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each reason to its result; this would make the organisation feel more continuous rather than like a list.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “academic pressure,” “revise,” “relatives,” and “upcoming exam.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “heat wave” and “academic progress.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation and spelling errors are noticeable, sometimes making the reader pause. Examples include “spare time to enjoy nature,” “clear their doubts,” “relax themselve,” and “benficial.” Some phrases are repeated, especially “holidays,” “students,” and “time.” Build a wider set of accurate expressions for learning and wellbeing, and check spelling and natural word combinations carefully. The suggestions below offer more precise alternatives.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, including a conditional structure in “They may have to extend holidays if the temperature did not become normal” and a contrast introduced by “But when it comes to shorter school holidays.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to affect fluency. For example, “student can get” needs plural agreement, “when school announced” lacks an article, and “i got time to relax me” has an incorrect pronoun pattern. Tense control is also inconsistent in the conditional sentence, and punctuation and capitalisation are unreliable. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement, articles, pronouns and consistent tense, then proofread sentence boundaries and capital letters.

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