Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Holidays should be given to students to relax and develop new skills. In many states, primary and secondary schools give summer break for two months or more. Although, long school vocations are necessary for students physical and mental relaxation and physical development, while shorter school holidays may help students remember what they have studied, they can have better academic progess and shorter holidays can also support working parents.

On the one hand, long school holidays are beneficial for students physical and mental relaxation, students can relax and engage in other useful activities and can learn different skills. For example, pupils can participate in sports, they can learn cooking and can engage in other extracurricular activities.

On the other hand, shorter vocations can support working parents because they may find it difficult to arrange childcare during long holidays. Students may also be able to remember about their studies they would not forget it, if students spend more time learning during the year they can have better academic progress. For instance, students have spend longer holidays may require to revise the course in the school or at home when the holidays finish.

In conclusion, in many countries, primary and secondary schools give off for two months or mo

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You address both questions: the first paragraph identifies relaxation and skill development as benefits of long holidays, while the next paragraph gives reasons for shorter breaks, including childcare for working parents and better retention of schoolwork. These points are relevant, but they are only briefly explained, and the conclusion is cut off, so the overall position and final comparison are not completed. The example about revising after a long holiday is difficult to follow and does not clearly show how shorter holidays improve progress. The response also does not meet the required minimum length, which limits how fully you can develop and support your ideas. Explain each benefit with a clear cause-and-effect link and finish with a complete conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two sides, and an attempted conclusion. The signposts “On the one hand” and “On the other hand” help readers identify the contrast. However, progression within paragraphs is uneven. In the first body paragraph, several benefits are listed without being developed, while the second moves quickly from childcare to memory and academic progress. Some links are unclear, particularly “Students may also be able to remember about their studies they would not forget it.” The conclusion stops mid-sentence, weakening the overall sense of completion. Organise each body paragraph around one main claim, explain it, and then add a relevant example; use linking phrases only where they clarify the relationship between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “extracurricular activities,” “childcare,” “academic progress,” and “revise the course.” There is some repetition of “students,” “holidays,” and “long,” and several word choices or forms are inaccurate, such as “school vocations” for school holidays and “give off” for close or have a break. “Physical development” is mentioned but not explained, and “remember about their studies” is not a natural expression. These choices sometimes make the intended meaning less clear, though the main points remain understandable. Build a more precise range of collocations for education and holidays, and check spelling and word forms, especially “progress” and “vacations.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast in the introduction and examples introduced with “For example” and “For instance.” However, complex sentences are often not controlled successfully. The opening contains a faulty construction: “Although, long school vocations are necessary …, while shorter school holidays may help…”; “although” and “while” do not form a clear grammatical relationship here. Other problems include the run-on sentence “students can relax and engage in other useful activities and can learn different skills,” the missing possessive in “students physical,” and the incorrect verb form in “students have spend.” The final sentence is incomplete. Use shorter, complete sentences first, then practise joining ideas with one clear conjunction, while checking verb forms, possessives, and punctuation.

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