Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-24

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)

In today's competitive world, elementary school and high school shut for 8 weeks or more in the summer vacation in many provinces. There are several values for a long vacation such as children could take a break from study life to enjoy life. On the contrary, a long break might distract them from their goal. Both, the values and arguments are elaborated in further paragraphs.

Examining the values, the obvious reason is exhaustion. Students may feel exhausted after studying for plenty of months. Long vacations allow them to relax, reduce stress and return to school feeling refreshed. For instance, pupils could spend time with family, travel and participate in sports. As a result, teenagers receive an opportunity to recharge their batteries. Furthermore, extra days enable learners to explore their interest and hobbies that are usually not taught in school. For example, a student may attend coding class or cooking workshop in their leisure time.

On the other hand, scholars may forget what they have learned during a long vacation.

Shorter holidays help them maintain their learning habits and important concepts. For instance, children may take days to revise previous lessons. Consequently, teenager might perform poor in their important exams. Moreover, student may also waste their time during a break. For example, they may spend excessive time playing video games and using a social media instead of engaging in a previous syllabus.

In conclusion, although long period of vacation help children to relax and explore the new things, shorter holidays can help them maintain their schedule and an academic performance throughout the year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both questions: it explains the value of longer holidays through rest, family time, travel, sports and opportunities to explore hobbies, then gives reasons for shorter breaks, including retaining learning and avoiding unproductive use of time. The position is clear in the conclusion, which recognises benefits on both sides. These ideas are relevant, but some are less fully developed than others. The discussion of rest and extracurricular interests includes examples, while the shorter-holiday argument that students may “perform poor in their important exams” is asserted without explaining how forgetting material affects performance. Develop this cause-and-effect link and clarify how shorter breaks would preserve learning. This would make the response more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two sides, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “On the other hand” and “In conclusion” helps readers follow the shift in focus, and examples generally appear beside the ideas they support. However, some connections feel mechanical or unclear. “Both, the values and arguments are elaborated in further paragraphs” is an awkward roadmap, while “Consequently” does not clearly connect the preceding point about revision to the claim about exam performance. The final example about social media and “a previous syllabus” also does not link smoothly to the point about wasting time. Use more precise referencing and make each sentence’s relationship to the previous one explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The response uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “exhausted,” “reduce stress,” “maintain their learning habits,” and “recharge their batteries.” It also attempts more specific expressions such as “academic performance” and “engaging in a previous syllabus,” although the latter is not a natural collocation. Some word choices are imprecise or repetitive: “values” is repeated where “benefits” would sound more natural, and “goal” is unclear in the introduction because no particular goal has been identified. Phrases such as “study life” and “a social media” also show that collocation and article use need attention. Aim for natural combinations and precise wording, rather than adding less familiar expressions that do not fit the intended meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including the concession in “although long period of vacation help children to relax” and the relative clause “hobbies that are usually not taught in school.” Most sentences communicate their main meaning, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “a long vacation such as children could take” does not form a correct clause, and “teenager might perform” and “student may also waste” have number-agreement problems. The conclusion also needs agreement and article corrections: “long period … help” and “explore the new things.” Review subject–verb agreement, singular and plural forms, and article use, then proofread longer sentences to ensure their clauses are joined correctly. Greater accuracy would strengthen the range already attempted.

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