Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-29

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)

In most of the countries, Elementary and high schools gives summer vacations to students for two or more than two months.While longer hoilday give students time to strengthen reationship with their families and friends,whereas shorter school vacations help students remember what they learn more easily.

On the one hand, Longer holiday can help student spend their vacation with family and friends. During school hour students spend most of their time studying and have loads of assignments after returning home,which limits their free time, they don't have enough time for their loved ones. However, a longer holiday helps them spend free time with family or enjoy with their friends. As a result, they get to interact with each other more often and they can form a stronger connections with their families and friends. For example, studnets can go to a picnic or a fun parks with their friends during vacation which can helps to spend and enoojoy their time with friends, maintaining a healthy relationship witht their loved ones.

On the other hand, Shorter school hoildays help students retain informations they learned more easily. If Students spend less time away from their studies, they are most likely to remember subject lessons they've learned in school more convinently. As a result, they can understand new lessons easily when they return to school after short vacation. For example, Students may revise and remember mathmatical formulas with less effort that they learned school from shorter break.

In conclusion, A Long hoildays help students enjoy their vacation with their family and friends,whereas a short holiday helps studnets remember information more conveinetly.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both questions: it explains that longer holidays allow more time with family and friends, while shorter breaks may help students retain lessons and resume learning more easily. The introduction and conclusion also make this contrast clear. However, the discussion is only partly developed. The first main point is supported with a picnic example, but the example mainly repeats the idea of spending time together; the second point relies on a brief reference to mathematical formulas and does not explain how shorter breaks improve learning in practice. To strengthen the response, explain the benefits and limitations of each position more fully and use examples that demonstrate the reasoning rather than restating it.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, one paragraph for each side of the question, and a conclusion. The signposts “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the comparison. Within paragraphs, however, progression is sometimes weakened by long or loosely connected sentences, particularly the sentence beginning “During school hour,” which joins several ideas without clear boundaries. Some links are also mechanical, with “As a result” repeated to introduce consequences. Use clearer sentence boundaries and vary the way you show cause, contrast, and example. More precise referencing would also help readers see exactly which idea phrases such as “they” refer to.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main ideas, including relevant terms such as “assignments,” “retain,” “lessons,” and “relationships.” However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling, word-form, and collocation errors reduce precision: “hoilday,” “studnets,” “retain informations,” and “enjoy with their friends.” Some wording is also repetitive, especially “family and friends” and “remember.” These choices do not prevent the reader from understanding the argument, but they make parts of it less natural. Build accuracy by checking spelling and using common academic collocations, such as “retain information” and “spend time with friends,” then vary repeated terms where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts both simple and complex forms, including a contrast clause with “whereas” and conditional structures such as “If students spend less time away from their studies.” Meaning is generally understandable, but errors occur in agreement, articles, plurals, and sentence construction. For example, “schools gives” should use a plural verb, while “they can form a stronger connections” has a mismatch between the article and plural noun. The sentence beginning “During school hour” also runs several clauses together, making the relationships between ideas less clear. Practise checking subject–verb agreement and singular/plural forms, and divide long sentences into complete, well-punctuated units.

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