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 recent years, primary and secondary schools closes for months in the summer holidays has sparked a considerable debate among people. This essay will examine the importance of having long school holidays and also present some arguments in favor of short holidays.

To begin with, there are several advantages of long holidays. Teachers and student have time for mental rest. During the long school holidays, students get time to pursue their hobbies or travel. This long break also helps them in improving their bond with family. This means they get enough time to visit their grandparents parents and enjoy their time with them. To illustrate this, my younger brother who is fascinated about the painting utilize the summer vacation learn about painting, practice, draw some beautiful pictures and able to pursue his holiday in breaks.

Turning to the second question, long holidays can lead to inconsistent learning and routine. This means that, if there are long holidays it's very difficult to maintain a consistent behavior of learning and also difficult continue study after long vacation. It also increase the cost of childcare for working parents. These are the reasons sometimes the short school holidays are good rather than long one.

In conclusion, long school holidays are beneficial because student get time to pursue their hobbies get mental rest and improve family connection. Inconsistent learning, preventing learning loss and reduce child care burden from parents are the some arguments in favor of short school holidays.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both questions: the first body paragraph gives reasons for long holidays, including rest, hobbies, travel and family time, while the next presents concerns about learning routines and childcare costs. However, the response is brief of the required minimum, and several points are only listed rather than explained. For example, you mention that holidays help students rest, but do not explain how this benefits their learning or wellbeing. The example about your brother’s painting is relevant, yet its wording makes the point difficult to follow. The final sentence also says “preventing learning loss” as an argument for shorter holidays without explaining this idea. Develop each main point with a clear explanation or example, and make your position on the value of each holiday length more explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, one paragraph for each question, and a conclusion. Signposts such as “To begin with” and “Turning to the second question” help readers follow the shift between topics. Within paragraphs, however, connections are sometimes mechanical or unclear. “This means” is repeated, and the link between the claim about family bonds and the grandparents example could be smoother. The painting example also contains several actions in a row without a clear sentence structure, which interrupts the progression. In the conclusion, the ideas about shorter holidays are compressed into a confusing list. Use more precise referencing and connect each example directly to the point it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “mental rest,” “pursue their hobbies,” “consistent learning,” and “childcare.” There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “inconsistent learning and routine.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, which limits precision: “fascinated about the painting,” “improving their bond,” and “pursue their holiday in breaks” do not express the intended meanings naturally. Some repetition of “long holidays” and “time” also makes the vocabulary less flexible. Choose common collocations carefully and use more precise terms—for example, distinguish between maintaining study habits and preventing learning loss. Proofreading word forms and spelling will also improve clarity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a conditional structure in “if there are long holidays…” and a relative clause in “my younger brother who is fascinated…”. Meaning is generally recoverable, but some errors occur in agreement, verb forms, articles and sentence construction. For example, “schools closes” should have a plural verb, and “Teachers and student have” needs a plural noun. The sentence about your brother combines several actions without a complete, well-controlled structure, while “it also increase” has a subject–verb agreement error. There are also punctuation issues, such as the missing comma in the grandparents phrase. Practise accurate sentence patterns before adding multiple clauses, and check agreement and verb forms during revision.

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