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)

Summer vocations lasts for two and extended period of time for primard and secondary standard students in most of countries. The primary reason for long holidays is to provide students a time to wind themselves and indulge in recreational habits, however few critics are in favour of short holidays, somehow as it would impact their academic performance.

In most part of the world, school going individuals usually have plenty of holidays during summers. Primarily, its golden opportunity for peers to unwind themselves away from school and enjoy free time with their families. It not only strengthen the family bonds but it also an escape from their daily amundane and enjoy various recreational activities which in turn have profound impact on their health as well. For instance, a large number of families plan trips together and move towards northern areas in summers for spending quality time and children feel content in nature. In turn, it also a time to seek something useful like to be a part of summer camp where students learn a lot of skills which they feel enjoyable.

Nonetheless, few critics concede that shorter school holidays are enough for such age groups. At first, usually it also abandon students from their studies as they feel it a daunting task and have same schedule. Well, short holidays are also imoerative in a sense as it gives them the chance to complete their sylabus on time and while enjoying the decorum of a class perform far better at their school in contrast to their homes. To cite it clearly, now the international curriculum based schools arranged a range of extracurricular activities all year round so there is no need of prolog summer holidays

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both questions: it explains the value of extended holidays through family time, recreation and summer camps, and presents a case for shorter breaks by referring to study routines and school activities. These points are relevant, but the discussion is only partly developed. For example, the claim that long holidays benefit students’ health is not explained, and the argument that shorter holidays improve academic performance needs a clearer cause-and-effect explanation or a specific example. The position is also not fully clear: the opening suggests shorter holidays may harm performance, while the later paragraph argues they help students complete the syllabus and perform better. Make the comparison more balanced and clarify your view.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction to the benefits of long holidays and then to arguments for shorter ones. This overall arrangement helps the reader follow the main topic. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes uneven, and some links between ideas are unclear. For instance, “At first” does not clearly introduce the point about students becoming detached from study, while “Well” is conversational and does not establish a precise logical relationship. The final sentence introduces extracurricular activities but does not clearly connect them to the claim that long holidays are unnecessary. Use clearer topic sentences and link each example directly to the point it supports; vary transitions rather than relying on a few general connectors.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response attempts a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “recreational activities,” “family bonds,” “academic performance” and “extracurricular activities.” These choices show an effort to express ideas beyond basic vocabulary. However, inaccurate word choice, collocation and spelling are frequent enough to make some phrases difficult to interpret, such as “wind themselves,” “amundane,” “imoerative” and “prolog summer holidays.” Some expressions also sound unnatural, including “school going individuals” and “move towards northern areas.” Choose familiar, precise collocations and check spelling carefully. For example, “relax and recharge” is more natural than “wind themselves,” and “prolonged summer holidays” is clearer than “prolog summer holidays.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There are attempts to use complex sentences, including the opening sentence with “however” and the example beginning “For instance.” Nevertheless, control is inconsistent, and errors in sentence structure, agreement, articles and verb forms sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. Examples include “The primary reason … is to provide students a time,” “It not only strengthen … but it also an escape,” and “short holidays are also … as it gives them.” The final sentence is also difficult to parse because its clauses are not clearly connected. Practise building accurate sentences with one main idea and then adding a subordinate clause. Check subject–verb agreement, missing verbs and articles, and punctuation around linking words.

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