Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-21

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)

Most of the countries closed the primary and secondary schools for two months or more in the summer vacations every year. In my opinion these holidays are of great value because these have many benefits.

Some gaps are necessary for human health especially for the children because they are at the stage of growth, if they are studied continuously with out any free time, they will be mentally exhausted and disturbed which cause severe issues regarding their development. Moreover, they get bored very soon and do not take interest in studies. However, these vacations help to make their personalities more active and they also participated in many other activities. Whenever they go to visit their relatives and make a plan of trip to other cities, they interact with different kinds of people which can improve their communication skills and boost up their confidence level. Additionally, they spend a quality time with family where they learn many values. One of the substantial advantage is that they are protected from various diseases, as we know that in Pakistan summer season is very hot, outside temperature is increased to a great extent which is not bearable. In that days some people drink a lot of water because they are thirsty but this can cause cholera, someone has to face nausea, depression, anxiety and blood pressure problems. So living inside the house may protect them somehow.

On the other hand, there are many persons who argue about this prolonged vacations, they are against it. They tend to believe in shorter closure of school, as they thought that this is the wastage of time for students but these effects can be easily minimized by following some strategies such as teacher should give a homework to the pupils, also provided them lectures on daily basis. Parents should also focused on both training and school work of their children.

In short, summer holidays are of great importance, these helped everyone to feel relaxed and comfortable. If there are some flaws in it, it depends upon you how much you paid the attention towards your kids, at last all these can be handled by proper planning.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both parts of the question and make your position clear: you see long holidays as valuable, while acknowledging that some people favour shorter breaks. Your discussion of rest, family time, social development and hot weather in Pakistan gives relevant reasons and examples. However, the case for shorter holidays is much less fully explained: you report that opponents see the break as wasted time, but do not develop the educational consequences, such as loss of learning or difficulty returning to routine. Some benefits of long holidays, including disease prevention, are also not clearly connected to the length of the break. Develop both sides more evenly and explain how each example supports your argument.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph supporting long holidays, a contrasting paragraph on shorter holidays, and a conclusion. Transitions such as “Moreover,” “Additionally,” and “On the other hand” help signal the direction of the discussion. However, the long second paragraph combines several distinct points—rest, activities, family, and heat-related health—so the progression becomes crowded. Some links are also mechanical or unclear, particularly “these effects can be easily minimized,” where the reference of “these effects” is uncertain. Use separate paragraphs for the main arguments, and make references explicit so readers can follow how each point connects to the question.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic-related vocabulary, including “mentally exhausted,” “communication skills,” “confidence level,” and “prolonged vacations.” These choices help express ideas about wellbeing and development. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “shorter closure of school,” “boost up their confidence level,” and “a quality time.” Some expressions are also imprecise: “these effects” does not clearly identify what is being reduced, and the health examples are not always described precisely. Aim for more natural academic collocations and check word forms and spelling, including “substantial advantage” and “with out.” Greater precision would make your arguments easier to understand.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including conditional and subordinate structures such as “if they are studied continuously…” and “Whenever they go to visit their relatives…”. This gives the response some variety, and the main ideas are generally understandable. However, errors in agreement, tense, articles and sentence construction occur in several places. For example, “these vacations help… and they also participated” shifts tense, while “Parents should also focused” has an incorrect verb form. The opening “Most of the countries closed…” also uses an unsuitable tense for a general fact. Review subject–verb agreement and keep verb forms consistent; divide long sentences where clauses are joined unclearly, as in the sentence beginning “Some gaps are necessary.”

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