Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-30

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 primary and secondary educational institutions close for two or more months during the summer holidays.

One of the main reason of providing two months or more holidays is for the child's personal development. This includes learning life skills, following passion and spend time with their families. The primary children would love to go for learning art and crafts whereas the secondary children can take summer internships and gain practical experience as well as earn for themselves. Thus, long school holidays show a beneficial impact on children's life.

On the other hand, longer holidays can make the child forget their fundamentals of the subject.The future classes would depend on previously learnt basics and it would be hard for the learner to get back on track. For example, few children would forget the concepts of mathematics such as addition, subtraction and other arithmetical topics. In addition, parents could experience a lot of financial burden to ensure their children would go for childcare centres, pursure their interests or learn new skills. As a result, long school holidays may not be good for few children.

In conclusion, some children may get benefited with the long school holidays but others may find it difficult and hard to learn and ensure their holidays are properly utilized.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both questions: the first body paragraph explains benefits such as personal development, pursuing interests and gaining work experience, while the next discusses learning loss and costs to parents. These are relevant points, but several are only briefly stated; for example, the internship example is not developed to show how it benefits secondary students, and the disadvantages are not balanced with a clear explanation of why shorter holidays would help. Your conclusion recognises differing effects but does not clearly answer which arguments support shorter breaks. The response is also below the required 250 words, which limits the space available to explain and support your ideas. Develop each main point with a reason or specific example and make the response to both questions explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for benefits and drawbacks, and a conclusion. The contrastive opening “On the other hand” helps signal the shift, and “For example” introduces a relevant illustration. This coherent arrangement makes the main line of thought easy to follow. However, the connection between the drawbacks described and the task’s case for shorter holidays could be made more explicit, and the conclusion largely repeats the idea that children differ rather than synthesising the two sides. Some linking is also mechanical, particularly the repeated use of “Thus,” “In addition,” and “As a result.” Use transitions that show the precise relationship between claims, and ensure each paragraph advances a distinct answer to the prompt.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “personal development,” “practical experience,” “fundamentals,” and “financial burden.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and the meaning remains clear despite some inaccurate or unnatural expressions. For instance, “one of the main reason of providing” and “beneficial impact on children's life” are not natural collocations, while “pursure” is a spelling error and “few children” does not express the intended general meaning naturally. “Following passion” and “ensure their holidays are properly utilized” are also imprecise. Aim for more accurate collocations and word forms, and choose vocabulary that directly expresses the argument—for example, describing learning loss as a decline in retention.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including the relative clause in “basics and it would be hard for the learner to get back on track” and the conditional structure “would depend on previously learnt basics.” Most sentences communicate their meaning, and errors rarely prevent understanding. Some grammatical inaccuracies remain, however: “One of the main reason” needs a plural noun, and “The primary children would love to go for learning” has an awkward construction. In “the child forget their fundamentals,” the subject and verb do not agree, while “children's life” needs a plural form. There is also missing spacing after the full stop in “subject.The.” Review agreement, articles and plural forms, and practise combining clauses accurately while retaining your current range of sentence structures.

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