Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

In many places secondary and primary schools close for several months some argue that it has quite benefits others do not agree with that

The arguments in favour of shorter school

The value of long school holidays

is way of rewarding them after a long period of studies, it pushes the students to work harder after coming back from the holidays, and also for the tachers who worked for the whole year.

these students that have studied for the whole year and made big sacrfices in order to obtain great grades have followed the paths of their teachers and played a major role in trying to get the best scores by studying, revising, working hard and the main value is for them to rest and go out with their friends, family, brothers and sisters, the other value is that to go to the beach in summer where most of families go to spend weekends and perhaps weeks and months. It is very important for children to have a rest after a long year of hard work.

However the arguments in favour of shorter school holidays are so many starting with the spaces because some parents do not like a lot of children noise in the house so school is the best place to take care of them, also children can easly disconnect from school so reminding them of it and coming back to it each time will help for sure. Second, what favours short school holidays is also the attachement of studies and courses, for example math because it is a subject that requiers a lot of hard work and focus so the students must be very attentive.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both questions: you explain that long holidays allow students and teachers to rest, and you give reasons for shorter breaks, including maintaining study habits and helping parents manage childcare. These points are relevant, but they are only partly developed. For example, the claim that holidays reward students is not clearly explained, and the point about mathematics would benefit from a specific explanation of how a shorter break supports learning. Your opening is difficult to follow and does not establish a clear overall position on the relative value of the two options. Develop each main idea with a clear explanation or example, and make your view consistent throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is some organisation: the response moves from the value of long holidays to arguments for shorter ones, and the transition “However” signals a change in focus. However, the opening is fragmented, and the headings interrupt the flow rather than forming a clear introduction and paragraph structure. Several ideas are joined in long strings with commas, making it hard to see where one point ends and the next begins. The sequence within the long-holiday paragraph also shifts from rewarding students to family activities without clear links. Use a brief introduction, separate paragraphs for distinct reasons, and topic sentences; then connect each explanation to its main point with clear referencing.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “hard work,” “grades,” “revise,” “focus,” and “attentive.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “disconnect from school” and “a long period of studies.” However, the range is limited and several word choices, collocations, and spelling errors make parts less clear, for example “quite benefits,” “spaces,” “tachers,” “sacrfices,” and “attachement.” Some phrases are also imprecise, such as “the spaces” for the issue of parents needing childcare. Build a wider set of accurate expressions for rest, childcare, learning continuity, and academic progress, and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a reason clause with “because” and a conditional idea in “so reminding them of it … will help.” However, sentence control is inconsistent, and many sentences are difficult to follow because clauses are joined without clear punctuation. The opening lacks a complete, well-formed sentence, while “The value of long school holidays is way of rewarding them” is missing an article and has an unclear reference. There are also problems with sentence boundaries and parallel structure in the long list of activities. Practise writing shorter, complete sentences first, then combine related ideas using accurate conjunctions and punctuation.

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