Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-01

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 some states, kindergarden and secendary schools shuts for two months or more in summer vacations.

Schools want students to take off from school and to spent some on the physical activities and to some schools prefer these holdays to be in short term so they do not lose their intrest in studies. Some people argued on the favour of long term holidays and some people want these holidays to be shorten. Here is a general review.

In some schools the duration on holidays is is longer two months or more than two. Some believe that it will gonna have positive impact because in the leisure time stdents will perform some physical activiyies and some will go to spend their holidays to different cities and countries that will help them to oimprove their academic knowledge.For example if they go explore some historical places such as meusem this will help them to enhance their knowledge.

On the other hand, some believe that long vacations are just to spoil students and to distract them from their studies. Some people argud that holidays need to be shorten so that student do not lost the intrest of stuying. For example if in school's break they just spending their on mobile phone for playing games and watching youtube it be cause of their mental sickness and lack of intrest in studies.

In conclusion, parents are more in favour of long term school break rather than short term pause. Because they believe relaxation of mind and refreshment is also necessary for students.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions by explaining that long breaks allow physical activities, travel and visits to historical places, while shorter breaks may help students retain interest in studying. These are relevant points, and the museum example gives one idea some support. However, the discussion is uneven: the value of long holidays is explained more clearly than the case for shorter ones, which mainly focuses on avoiding lost interest and excessive phone use. The opening also says “Here is a general review” rather than establishing a clear position, and the conclusion introduces parents’ preference without showing how this follows from the discussion. Develop each argument with a clearer explanation of its benefits and limitations, and make your overall view consistent throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two sides, and a conclusion. “On the other hand” clearly signals the shift to arguments for shorter holidays, and examples are placed near the points they support. Overall, the reader can follow the main contrast. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear, and several ideas are joined mechanically with repeated “and” or “some.” The introduction’s “Here is a general review” does not guide the reader toward a specific position, while the conclusion’s claim about parents is not prepared for earlier. Use clearer topic sentences, connect each example explicitly to its main point, and ensure the conclusion summarises the arguments already discussed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “physical activities,” “academic knowledge,” “historical places,” and “lack of interest in studies.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and “enhance their knowledge” shows an attempt to use more formal phrasing. However, the range is limited and several spelling and word-choice errors make the writing less precise, such as “kindergarden,” “secendary,” “holdays,” “intrest,” and “meusem.” Some expressions are also unnatural or unclear, including “short term,” “spoil students,” and “it be cause of their mental sickness.” Build a more accurate set of collocations for education and holidays, and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, including a conditional example beginning “if they go explore some historical places.” This shows an effort to explain cause and effect, and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, control is inconsistent: “schools shuts” has subject–verb disagreement, “to spent” uses the wrong verb form, and “students do not lost” has an incorrect verb after “do not.” Sentence construction also breaks down in places, as in “if in school's break they just spending their on mobile phone,” where the clause lacks a clear grammatical structure. There are also punctuation and sentence-boundary problems. Practise accurate present-tense forms and build complex sentences around a clear subject and verb before adding extra details.

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