Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-28

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 5.5)

Summer hoildays are known internationally by many countries. Where schools for different age types are often closed during that period. This essay will discuss the benefits of having long school hoildays and the argumnets towards shorter school hoildays.

Some of the most common values of having long school hoildays, are to provide students some rest after finishing an entire long year. In results, this will make students miss school and stress free. Furthermore, having long hoildays make students have time for other activities that can boarden their way of thinking, like attending programming courses, volunteering or learning new skills such as joining competitions and camping. Moreover, they will get to spend time with their families, travel for vacation and meet their relatives.

On the other hand, some peeople believe that shorter school hoildays are perfered. One example, is that longer hoildays can make students forget the way they study. Next, they may get used to spending alot of free time that help them can't stand academic stress. Additionally, some parents would prefer shorter hoildays as they are having full-time jobs and they can't stay with their children at home for two months. Subseqeuently, this will require additional money for parents to get a carer to take care of their childern.

To conclude, having long hoildays are part of personal growth and development through learning new skills and spending time with family. In contrast, some people prefer shorter school hoildays as they don't have someone to stay with their childern and take care of them while they are at work.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions and maintain a relevant focus: the essay explains that long holidays allow students to rest, pursue activities and spend time with family, while shorter breaks may help preserve study habits and support working parents. However, these points are mostly listed rather than developed. For example, the claim that students may “forget the way they study” would be stronger with an explanation of how a long break affects learning or a specific example. The point about parents needing childcare is clearer, but could also be supported further. Your conclusion restates the contrast, though it does not add a clear overall judgement about the value of each option. Develop and illustrate the main ideas more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, one paragraph for the benefits of long holidays, one for shorter holidays, and a conclusion. This makes the two sides easy to identify. You also use signposting such as “Furthermore,” “Moreover,” and “On the other hand” to connect points. At times, however, the linking feels mechanical, and some connections are unclear. For instance, “In results” does not clearly show the relationship between rest and students becoming stress-free, while “Next” introduces a point without explaining how it follows from the previous one. The conclusion repeats earlier ideas rather than drawing them together. Use more precise links and make the relationship between each claim and its explanation explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary, including “volunteering,” “programming courses,” “academic stress,” and “personal growth and development,” which helps communicate the topic. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “full-time jobs” and “additional money.” However, spelling errors are frequent and noticeable, including “hoildays,” “argumnets,” “peeople,” and “childern.” Some word choices or combinations are also inaccurate: “miss school and stress free” does not express the intended benefit naturally, and “boarden their way of thinking” is unclear. These issues sometimes make the reader pause. Check spelling carefully and learn natural collocations for discussing rest, learning and childcare.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “activities that can boarden their way of thinking” and a conditional-style explanation of parents’ childcare needs. However, control is inconsistent, and several sentence structures are faulty. “Where schools for different age types are often closed during that period” is a fragment, while “having long hoildays make students” has a subject–verb agreement error. The construction “they may get used to spending alot of free time that help them can't stand academic stress” is difficult to follow because the clause structure and verb pattern are not controlled. Review complete sentence formation, agreement, and how to connect clauses; then proofread punctuation and sentence boundaries.

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