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)

These days, closing primary and secondary schools for a period of two months or more now is quite common in many countries. Here, I want to consider possible favourable and unfavourable consequences of this approach.

Long school holidays help pupils discover their interests and try new activities. During summer holidays, children have enough time for extracurricular activities that can help them explore what they perform well and give a clear understanding of what skills and abilities they need to cultivate in the long run. For example, a lot of pupils choose to go to summer camps where they can try diverse kinds of sports and continue to exercise them in the future.

However, there are some negative aspects of a long summer holiday. One the most disapointing fact that not all children can spend free time with benefits for them. Pupils who are free from schoolwork are likely to spend time playing computer games all the time. Usually, children can't manage their time by themselves, and parents don't always have enough time to do it for them either. Consequently, this leads children to fill their free time with activities that will bring poor outcomes for them in the future. For instance, a big number of pupils

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You address the value of long holidays by explaining that pupils can explore interests and develop skills through activities such as summer camps. However, the response does not answer the second question: it gives no arguments in favour of shorter holidays. The discussion of drawbacks to long breaks is relevant, but it is not the same as explaining why shorter holidays may be beneficial. The example about pupils playing computer games is also left unfinished, and the response ends without a conclusion or a clear overall position. The response is 44 words below the required minimum, which further limits the development of your ideas. To improve, cover both questions directly, complete and explain your examples, and state your view clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction is followed by a paragraph on benefits and one on drawbacks. Linking expressions such as “For example,” “However,” and “Consequently” help show relationships between ideas, and the main points are generally easy to follow. However, the final example is cut off at “a big number of pupils,” so the paragraph and response do not reach a complete ending. The introduction promises to consider both favourable and unfavourable consequences, but the body does not progress to arguments for shorter holidays. Develop a separate paragraph for that part of the task, use clear links between each claim and its explanation, and add a brief conclusion to make the progression feel complete.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “extracurricular activities,” “cultivate,” “diverse kinds of sports,” and “poor outcomes.” These choices allow you to discuss pupils’ interests and the possible effects of unstructured time. There are also some inaccurate or unnatural expressions, such as “discover their interests” where “explore their interests” is more idiomatic, and “continue to exercise them” for continuing a sport. “One the most disapointing fact” contains spelling and word-choice problems, while “a big number” is an imprecise collocation. Aim for more natural combinations and check spelling carefully; this will make your meaning more precise without requiring unnecessarily complicated vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, and several sentences are controlled, such as “During summer holidays, children have enough time for extracurricular activities that can help them explore…” The cause-and-effect sentence beginning “Consequently” also shows an attempt to connect clauses. Some grammatical errors remain: “One the most disapointing fact” is missing “of” and has incorrect singular agreement; “children … spend free time with benefits for them” has an awkward grammatical construction; and the final sentence is incomplete. The opening also uses both “These days” and “now,” which makes the time reference unnecessarily repetitive. Review articles, agreement, and sentence completion, and proofread each sentence to ensure that clauses are fully formed.

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