Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-23

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 6.0)

Many countries offer vacations of two months or more during the summer holidays for primary and secondary school children. People value long holidays and some people are against it. In my opinion, i find long summer holidays breaks quite useful for students.

Students during long school holidays can experience variety of activies, pursue their interests and spend quality time with family. Schools nowadays only focus on formal education. Kids don't get the time to participate in extra curricular activities. Long summer break give children space to experiment and learn new skill. For instance, a school going kid wants to learn swimming, but swimming classes are mostly in the morning. A long summer break of two or more months give that students enough time to learn swimming and get the idea whether he actually likes it or not.

Moreover, many student's cousins and extended families live in different countries and cities. Schools closed for a longer period of time gives adults the opportunity to visit their relatives. They could spend cozy holidays with their loved one and kids can also enjoy with their cousins.

On the other hand, many individuals are quite against long holidays and are in favour of shorter school holidays. Mostly, it's the parents who do not like long school breaks. During summer break, little children do not follow any routine and spend most of their day being lazy and unproductive. They mostly waste their days playing video games or watching television. Addtionally, they don't pay attention to their studies during holidays which result in poor grades in exam afterwards. As a results, guardians of primary and secondary school children request school to give shorter school holidays.

To summarise, summer holidays are an ideal time for students to work on themselves apart from formal education. They are actually learn a valuable skill during the break which they could even pursue in the future.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both parts of the question and make your position clear: you consider long holidays useful, then present parents’ reasons for preferring shorter breaks. The examples about learning to swim and visiting relatives make the benefits relevant. However, the arguments for shorter holidays are developed more fully around routine and academic performance, while the value of holidays for personal development is asserted more than explained. The conclusion also repeats the benefits without weighing them against the case for shorter breaks. To strengthen the response, explain the consequences of each point in more depth and make the comparison between the two positions clearer.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for the benefits and drawbacks, and a concluding summary. Transitions such as “Moreover” and “On the other hand” help signal the movement between ideas. Within paragraphs, however, some connections are mechanical or unclear. For example, “As a results” introduces a consequence, but the link between children’s holiday habits and parents requesting shorter holidays could be explained more explicitly. The final paragraph also introduces no new synthesis of the two sides. Use referencing carefully and connect each example back to the main point, while varying transitions and ensuring the conclusion reflects both arguments.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “formal education,” “extra curricular activities,” “extended families,” and “unproductive,” and the meaning is generally clear. There are also attempts at more descriptive phrasing, such as “spend quality time” and “pursue their interests.” Some choices are imprecise or unnatural, including “experience variety of activities,” “cozy holidays,” and “work on themselves”; spelling errors such as “activies” and “Addtionally” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more natural collocations and precise academic phrasing, for example, describing children as developing skills or maintaining a routine. Proofreading would help prevent spelling slips from weakening otherwise understandable vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional example about swimming classes and a contrast introduced by “On the other hand.” Most ideas remain understandable, but some errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction persist. For example, “Long summer break give” should use a plural subject or a singular verb form, and “They are actually learn” has an incorrect verb construction. In “Schools closed for a longer period of time gives adults,” the subject and verb do not agree. There are also inconsistent capitalisation and punctuation choices. Review subject–verb agreement and verb patterns, then check each sentence for a complete, correctly formed clause.

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