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 many nations, primary and secondary class students are given summer holidays for two months. This essay will first discuss how it will reduce stress of children and then explain how shorter holidays can be benefical for children acadmic growth.

The major factor is that long summer vacations help students to release their stress which they absorb by studying 10 months consecutively in a year. For example, in Pakistan, schools normally announce official two months holidays in the month of June and July to involve pupils in other cocurricular activies during those holidays.Moreover parents also wait for this two months for enjoyment as they are also budy in thier children acti . As a result, when students comeback after holidays, they feel more energatic and take more interest in studies with fresh mind.

It is often argued that long holidays should be reduced because many children use excessive screen during vacations rather than involving in good physical activities. As a conseuquence they face different health problems including eye weekness and laziness. Furthermore, they face academic proplems after a huge gap in studies because of long weekends. such as they forget their previous subjects and feeling demotivated in class.

In conclusion, Although it is beneficial for students to have long holidays where they can experienced various activiites and relaease their tension, sometimes students may misuse school long holidays by wasting in non productive activities such as excessive use of mobile phones and sleeping whole day.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: the first body paragraph explains that a break can reduce stress and allow pupils to take part in other activities, while the second gives reasons for shorter holidays, including screen use and difficulty returning to study. However, the discussion is uneven and some points are only briefly stated. The claim that parents also look forward to the break is not clearly connected to the value for students, and the academic difficulties after a long gap need a more specific explanation or example. Your conclusion restates the contrast but does not develop your position further. The response is 244 words, so it does not meet the 250-word minimum; add relevant explanation and support rather than padding the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs addressing the two sides, and a conclusion. Linking phrases such as “For example,” “Moreover,” and “As a result” help show relationships between ideas. Overall, the reader can follow the main progression. Some connections are less clear or mechanical, however: the point about parents waiting for the holidays interrupts the explanation of students’ stress, and “such as” does not connect smoothly to the preceding sentence about academic problems. The conclusion also repeats earlier points rather than bringing them together clearly. Improve cohesion by making each paragraph develop one central idea and using references and transitions that show exactly how each example supports it.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “summer vacations,” “release their stress,” “physical activities,” and “academic problems.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “non productive activities.” However, spelling errors and inaccurate word forms are noticeable and sometimes make the reader pause: “benefical,” “acadmic,” “activies,” and “energetic” are examples. Some combinations are also unnatural, including “use excessive screen” and “release their stress.” Aim for accurate, natural collocations and check spelling carefully. For instance, “spend excessive time on screens” and “relieve stress” would express your intended meanings more idiomatically while preserving the essay’s clear, relevant vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including a relative clause in “which they absorb by studying” and a concessive opening in the conclusion. The main message is generally understandable, but errors in sentence construction and verb forms occur. For example, “when students comeback … they feel” needs a clearer verb phrase (“return … they feel”), while “they can experienced” should use the base form after “can.” In “they forget their previous subjects and feeling demotivated,” the verb forms are not parallel. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly the missing space after “holidays.” and the lower-case “such.” Practise accurate clause construction and parallel verb forms, then proofread sentence boundaries and punctuation.

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