Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

In most of the countries it is a common practice of closing primary and secondary schools for 2 moths or more in summer. Some individuals argue why long holidays and present their arguments in favour of shorter school holidays. In my view, it is a good idea of long holidays as it give students some rest and time for their some activities other than studying.

Long school holidays have been part of the currciculum since long, and it has more value in it than we think, as it gives kids time to think about extra currcular activities which help them develop hobbies and interests in sports or arts, they can choose to join clubs of their own prefrences and develop skills, for example a kid can join a cricket club and practice bowling, in future he might become a professional bowler. As it will be difficult to do these skills development with the academic studies.

Some parents argue that when a child takes long vacations they forget about the academics or they get lazy or not study at home, or some even say the fees is going for the months when the students are on vacation, like fees of june and july are to paid even in summer vacations most schools have this policy as the teachers have to get their salaries as well.

In conclusion, there may be some arguments for shorter holidays with some facts that are true, but we can't overlook the benefits gained by students in long school holidays.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear preference for long holidays and explain a relevant benefit: students can pursue interests such as sport, with cricket as an example. You also include arguments for shorter breaks, particularly concerns about students forgetting academic content and parents paying fees during holidays. However, the two parts are not developed equally: the value of long holidays receives more explanation, while the case for shorter holidays is mainly presented as parents’ concerns, without explaining how shorter breaks might support learning or routine. The opening also paraphrases the question awkwardly rather than establishing the issues clearly. Develop both sides with specific reasoning and make your position more consistently explicit to address the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on benefits, a paragraph presenting concerns about long breaks, and a conclusion. This makes the main direction understandable. Some links between ideas are less clear, however. The second paragraph combines hobbies, clubs, a cricket example, and the difficulty of developing skills alongside academic study in one long sentence, so the relationship between points is hard to follow. The paragraph about parents also moves from academic forgetting to laziness and then school fees without clearly connecting these concerns. Use shorter, more controlled sentences and organise each paragraph around one central argument, with linking phrases that show cause, contrast, or consequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “extra curricular activities,” “hobbies and interests,” “academic studies,” and “professional bowler.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and there is some attempt to use more specific language than basic terms. However, several spelling errors and awkward or repetitive expressions reduce precision, such as “moths,” “currciculum,” “prefrences,” and “long holidays” repeated frequently. Phrases such as “some individuals argue why long holidays” and “the fees is going” are also not natural collocations. Aim for accurate topic phrases such as “school break,” “extracurricular pursuits,” and “tuition fees,” and proofread spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “activities which help them develop hobbies” and a conditional example beginning “if a kid can join.” The overall meaning is generally recoverable, but some grammatical errors make relationships between ideas unclear. For example, “it is a good idea of long holidays as it give students” has problems with the construction and subject–verb agreement, while “fees of june and july are to paid” is missing a required verb form. Several sentences are also joined with commas despite containing multiple complete ideas, especially in the paragraph about extracurricular activities. Practise accurate agreement, articles, and verb patterns, and divide long sentences into clearer units with appropriate punctuation.

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