Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-22

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 large number of countries, primary and secondary educational institutes close for two months or more than this time period in the summer vaccations. The long school holidays are very important because of enough time for students to enjoy their vaccations. In contrast, shorter school holidays help students to attach with their study and educational institutes.

During long school holidays, students feel relax by enjoying their vaccations . This is because they know they had already done their summer task, which they have to submit when their clases will start. From my personal experience, I really loved summer vaccations when I am in school education. The main reason behind this is that I mostly completed my task in one month and during second month I mostly went to park on daily basis and play cricket but this routine is not suitable for winter vaccations because of shorter period of time.

On the other side, there are also some benfits of shorter period vaccations. One of the man benifit is the attachements of students with their schools more specifically studies. Like if Students know that theri schools will open in coming week or days, then they did not feel like that they are not students anymore because of change of routine of going school and take classes. For example, I really noticed that many of my friends did not like to take classes and they feel lazy, when we came back from a longer period of vaccations during school time.

In Conclusion, the main reason behind the importance of long period of vaccations is that students have enough time to enjoy not just completing hometask. Shorter school holidays are very helpful for the attachemt of students with theiir study despite having vaccations.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both questions and maintain a relevant overall position: long holidays give students time to relax and enjoy activities, while shorter breaks may help them stay connected to school and study. The personal example about finishing summer tasks and playing cricket supports the value of a longer break, and the example of friends feeling lazy after returning gives some support to the case for shorter holidays. However, the second argument is less fully explained: clarify how shorter breaks improve learning or routines, rather than relying mainly on students’ feelings about returning. The conclusion restates both sides but does not draw them together into a clear final judgement. Developing the reasons and examples more evenly would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, one paragraph for each side of the question, and a conclusion. The contrast markers “In contrast” and “On the other side” help signal the shift between arguments, and the examples are placed alongside the points they support. This coherent structure meets the lower-band expectations and shows some features of stronger progression. However, links can feel mechanical, and some references are unclear—for example, “this routine” could refer to the activities or the holiday more generally. The conclusion repeats earlier points rather than synthesising them. Use clearer links between each claim and its explanation, and make pronouns and references precise so readers can follow the argument without having to infer their meaning.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “summer holidays,” “students,” “studies,” and “routine.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions such as “personal experience” and “change of routine.” However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce fluency, including “vaccations,” “benfits,” “attachements,” and “hometask.” Some phrases are also unnatural or imprecise, such as “feel relax,” “attach with their study,” and “on daily basis.” These errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the overall message, but they make it less natural. Build accuracy with common collocations and check spelling carefully, especially for repeated topic words.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a reason clause beginning “This is because” and a conditional example beginning “Like if.” The main ideas are generally understandable, but control is uneven, particularly in longer sentences. For example, “they know they had already done their summer task” shifts tense awkwardly, while “when their clases will start” uses an unsuitable future form after “when.” There are also errors in articles, agreement, and sentence construction, as in “One of the man benifit” and “they did not feel like that they are not students anymore.” Punctuation spacing is inconsistent. Practise building accurate complex sentences with consistent tense and clear clause structure, then proofread for agreement and articles.

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