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 a lot of countries, both primary and secondary schools take a holiday for two months or more in the summer. This essay will address the value of long school holidays, and will examine the arguments in favour of shorter school holidays.

There are two valuable incomes from the long school holidays. First most of students study about 10 months a year, sometimes this can be a little tiring and frustrating for most of the children and teenagers, So a two months off school will give students the rest needed and they can feel refreshed, and also Long breaks let students and teachers unwind, sleep better, and relieve the chronic stress and fatigue built up during a heavy academic year. For example, in my country summer holidays can be up at three months, it helped me do better the next academic year. That being said, long school holidays can be really valuable in terms of mental state and recovery.

Turning to the second question the most significant argument of the shorter school holidays is the prevention of academic loss. Because extended breaks often cause students to forget core concepts especially in complex subjects like mathematics and science, which forces teachers to spend weeks reviewing old materials. For example this sort of problem happened to me personally with math subject, when the new academic year comes i just forget everything from last year. As for the second issue is an Easier Classroom Transition, Shorter, more frequent breaks help students keep their daily momentum, making it much simpler to re-enter a focused learning mindset when returning to class. For example Countries that use shorter, balanced intervals—distributing those vacation days more evenly across the entire year—often report less student fatigue without the sharp drop in academic retention.

In conclusion, both long school holidays and shorter ones have their benefits and drawbacks.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both questions and gives relevant reasons: long holidays allow students to recover from academic stress, while shorter breaks may reduce learning loss and make returning to class easier. The personal examples about feeling refreshed and forgetting mathematics help make the discussion relevant. However, the value of long holidays is developed more fully than the case for shorter holidays, and some claims in the latter section are asserted rather than explained—for instance, the statement that countries with balanced breaks “often report less student fatigue” has no supporting detail. The conclusion merely says both options have benefits and drawbacks; it would be stronger if it summarised the main arguments and stated a clear overall view.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, separate discussion of the two questions, and a conclusion. Signposts such as “First,” “Turning to the second question,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the main stages. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes uneven, and linking expressions can feel mechanical. The second body paragraph moves from academic loss to classroom transition without clearly showing how these are distinct arguments; “As for the second issue” also introduces the point awkwardly. Some sentence boundaries and capitalisation interrupt the flow, while the final conclusion is too brief to bring the discussion together. Clearer topic sentences and more deliberate links between each claim, explanation, and example would improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

There is adequate vocabulary for discussing the topic, including relevant phrases such as “academic loss,” “core concepts,” “chronic stress,” and “academic retention.” These choices show an attempt to use more specific language than basic terms, and the meaning is generally clear. Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, however: “two valuable incomes” does not mean benefits, “can be up at three months” is awkward, and “with math subject” is not idiomatic. There is also some repetition of “long school holidays” and “students.” Aim for precise collocations and check whether a phrase sounds natural in context; for example, use “two main benefits,” “can last up to three months,” and “in mathematics.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including a reason clause beginning “Because extended breaks often cause…” and a relative clause in “which forces teachers to spend weeks reviewing old materials.” Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical and punctuation errors are noticeable. For example, “First most of students study” needs punctuation after the introductory word and a different determiner, while “when the new academic year comes i just forget” has an incorrectly capitalised pronoun and an awkward tense pattern. The sentence beginning “As for the second issue is…” is structurally incomplete, and several long sentences need clearer punctuation. Review sentence boundaries, articles, and consistent tense choices to make the complex structures more controlled.

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