Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-04

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)

There's a recent debate about the closing of primary and secondry schools on account of summer holidays for the period of two or more months. There are certain benefits of that like, childrens spend their time with their family, goes on trips and learn new things. While some people believe that such longer it just waste of valuable time and money, because it breaks the fix schedule of study. It also causes extra amount of money to parents.

Firstly, the summer vacations has a great value for kids as well as their parents. In these holidays the kids spend a lot of time with their parents and the bond between parents and siblings gets stronger. For example, in holidays families plan their trips because the kids don't have to go to school. The schedule is flexible, and the parents can plan everything accordingly. By exploring new places and by interacting with new people, kids gets a lot of exposure.The family get to know each other in better way by knowing the mood swings, likes and dislikes. Childrens can also get to know some new skills, they can join different summer camps to learn about technology, gardening and anyother basic skill. This will help them a lot in their later life.

On the other hand, there are people who prefer shorter holidays, because they consider long holidays as a wastage of time and money. The reason is that some schools charge full fees in holidays as in regular days. Also childrens got distracted from study, they got busy in other activities and didn't learn any beneficial skill. It also causes stress to the parents because they have to take care of their kids on full time basis which disturbs their work. Mostly parents get out of budget becuase it cost them more in the form of pocket money, holidays expense.

To conclude, it is stated that although summer holidays are beneficial in many ways as kids enjoy that time with their parents, siblings and friends. But it also cause problems to some parents as the kids can adopt bad habits or they can totally waste their time on unuseful things. So its better to have proper planning on how to utilise this time in a positive way.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: the first body paragraph explains benefits such as family time, trips and learning skills, while the second gives reasons for shorter holidays, including fees, disrupted study and pressure on working parents. The conclusion also offers a practical view that holidays should be used positively. However, several points are asserted rather than fully explained. For instance, the claim that children may adopt “bad habits” is not illustrated, and the discussion of school fees does not clarify why families must pay them during closures. The response therefore covers the task, but some ideas remain general or unclear. Develop each main argument with a specific explanation or example, and make your overall position on the value of long holidays more explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the benefits and arguments for shorter holidays, and a conclusion. Sequencing within the body paragraphs is generally understandable, and signposts such as “Firstly,” “On the other hand” and “To conclude” help readers follow the discussion. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. The opening sentence of the second paragraph shifts from children’s relationships with parents to “siblings,” and the link between this and the following example is not always precise. The conclusion also repeats earlier points rather than drawing them together. Use clearer referencing and connect each example directly to the claim it supports; vary transitions and avoid relying mainly on formulaic signposting.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “summer vacations,” “flexible,” “exposure,” “summer camps” and “pocket money.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “the bond … gets stronger” and “out of budget.” However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or repetitive, which limits precision: “wastage of time,” “extra amount of money” and “unuseful things” sound unnatural, while “beneficial skill” does not fit the intended meaning well. Spelling errors such as “secondry,” “becuase” and “anyother” also reduce control. Build a wider set of natural phrases for discussing education, family costs and children’s development, and check spelling and word forms during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “because,” “although” and “which,” and the main meaning is usually understandable. However, errors occur across sentence forms and often make the writing less controlled. Examples include “the summer vacations has,” “kids gets,” and “The family get,” where subject–verb agreement is incorrect; “children spend their time … goes on trips” also shifts between incompatible verb forms. Articles and sentence construction need attention in phrases such as “in better way” and “although … But.” Some long sentences join several ideas without clear punctuation, as in the opening paragraph. Practise accurate agreement, articles and parallel verb forms, then proofread complex sentences to ensure each clause is complete and clearly punctuated.

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