Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-06

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

All university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement.

Do you think the advantages of this would outweigh the disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.0)

Including a period of time spent studying or doing a work placement abroad should be part of the undergraduate courses.The advantages of this outweighs the disadvantages.

International students will be able to do a practicum which will equip them with the necessary skills for the job mnarket. They will be able to put in practice what they have learnt in class. Morever, they will learn different techniques which might not be the same as those in their home country. This will create introduction of new ideas which will thus increase production.For example when a medical student goes abroad to study they will eventually go back to their homeland with new ideas which can be able to improve on the health sector.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You take a clear position in the opening, stating that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and you give relevant reasons: placements can build job skills, connect classroom learning with practice, and introduce new techniques. The medical-student example also helps illustrate a possible benefit. However, the response addresses the task only partially: it does not discuss any disadvantages or explain why the benefits outweigh them overall. The ideas are brief and need fuller explanation, such as how a placement improves employability or how students and universities could manage its costs. The response is also below the required 250 words, so there is not enough development to support the argument. Add a counterargument and a conclusion that reinforces your judgement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic, understandable progression: it states a position, gives several related benefits, and then offers a medical example. Linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “thus,” and “For example” help show how some points connect. However, the ideas are compressed into one paragraph, and the argument does not develop into a clear sequence of stages, such as benefits, disadvantages, and a final judgement. Some links are also unclear: “This will create introduction of new ideas” does not clearly explain how the preceding point leads to the outcome. Use separate paragraphs for the main argument and counterargument, and make each transition express the relationship between ideas precisely.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “work placement,” “necessary skills,” “techniques,” and “health sector.” These choices make the general subject clear, and “practicum” shows an attempt to use a more specific term. However, the range is limited, and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems reduce precision: “put in practice” is not the natural phrase, “create introduction of new ideas” is awkward, and “mnarket” is misspelled. “International students” may also be too narrow for a task about all undergraduates studying or working abroad. Build a wider set of accurate expressions for employability, cultural learning, costs, and access, and check spelling and collocations carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You communicate the main ideas using simple sentences and some attempts at more complex structures, such as “which will equip them” and “when a medical student goes abroad.” Most of the meaning remains understandable, but grammatical control is uneven. For example, “The advantages of this outweighs” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “courses.The” needs a space after the full stop. In “a medical student … they will,” the pronoun does not agree consistently with the singular subject. The response also relies heavily on similar future-tense sentence patterns. Practise checking agreement, punctuation, and pronoun reference, and vary sentence structures to explain causes, consequences, and contrasts more clearly.

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