Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-26

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)

The summer holidays in primary and secondary schools last for two or more months in many countries.

Holidays are important for students because they keeps students' mind fresh. The long holidays are essential because it helps them recover from academic stress. Students take a break from school learning and learns something new. It makes the children fresh and motivated on returning to school from holidays.

Long school holidays give time to the student to develop hobbies or learn new skills. They do not feel academic stress and try to do something different, like painting, reading a book or learning computer. For example, some students take short courses related to basic computer skills, stitching, painting, and cooking, etc.

The long holidays give time to spend with family. The children feel more connected and plan to go on vacation with family. They feel at rest as their is no learning pressure, and they can enjoy without any pressure over them.

Short holidays have their own benefits such as the learning routine is not being disturbed. During a holiday of one week, the child feels fresh and the routine remains unchanged. For instance, a student who attends school after one week is better in learning than the one who attends after 3 months of holidays.

Students do not forget what they learnt in short holidays. They don't need to feel the pressure of forgetting the previous lectures. As after 3 months, most of the students feels more stressed when they have to revise every subject.

In conclusion, although long holidays allows student to learn new skills, spend time with family, shorter holidays, keeps them in routine and help in better learning. Both long and short holidays have their own advantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both questions: it explains the value of longer breaks through rest, hobbies and family time, then gives reasons for shorter holidays, including maintaining a learning routine and retaining knowledge. These points are relevant and the examples of computer courses, painting and revising subjects help illustrate them. However, the discussion is unevenly developed. The benefits of long holidays receive several explanations, while the case for shorter breaks is stated more briefly and relies mainly on general claims about routine and forgetting lessons. The comparison in the conclusion is clear, but the essay would be stronger if each argument were explained in more depth—for example, how shorter breaks might reduce the amount of revision needed when school resumes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs on the benefits of long and short holidays, and a concluding summary. Ideas generally progress logically, and linking expressions such as “For example,” “For instance,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the discussion. This secure organisation is a strength. To make the progression more fluent, use a wider range of links that show relationships between ideas, rather than relying mainly on repeated “The long holidays” and “Students” openings. Some references are also unclear, such as “the one who attends after 3 months,” where the comparison could be expressed more precisely. A clearer transition between the two sides of the argument would further strengthen the essay’s flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main ideas, with relevant terms such as “academic stress,” “develop hobbies,” “learning routine” and “revise.” Examples also make the discussion concrete. However, the range is limited and several words or phrases are repeated, particularly “fresh,” “pressure,” “students” and “holidays.” Some combinations are unnatural or imprecise, including “feel at rest” and “better in learning,” which reduce the naturalness of the writing. Aim to use more precise collocations and vary repeated wording while keeping the meaning clear. For instance, you could describe children as “refreshed” or “reinvigorated,” and explain that shorter breaks help them “retain what they have learned.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response includes both simple statements and some longer sentences, and the main meaning is generally clear. However, errors in agreement and verb forms occur in several places: “they keeps students’ mind fresh,” “it helps them recover,” “students … learns something new,” and “most of the students feels more stressed.” There are also problems with articles and sentence construction, as in “time to the student” and “although long holidays allows student.” These errors do not usually prevent understanding, but they make the writing less accurate and limit the control shown across the essay. Check that subjects and verbs agree, and review each sentence for singular or plural forms. Practising accurate complex sentences with “although,” “because” and “while” would also help broaden the range.

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